THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


HISTORY 


OF 


MEDIEVAL   ART 


BY 

DR.  FRANZ  VON  REBER 

DIRECTOR   OF   THE   BAVARIAN    ROYAL   AND   STATE  GALLERIES   OF    PAINTINGS 
PROFESSOR    IN   THE   UNIVERSITY   AND    POLYTECHNIC   OF   MUNICH 


TRANSLA  TED 

BY 

JOSEPH   THACHER    CLARKE 


WITH    422    ILLUSTRATIONS   AND    A   GLOSSARY  OF  TECHNICAL  TERMS 


NEW     YORK 

HARPER    &    BROTHERS,    FRANKLIN    SQUARE 

1887 


Copyright,  1886,  by  HARPER  &  BROTHERS. 


All  rights  reserved. 


Art 
Library 

V 

5770 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS    .     Page  vii 
INTRODUCTION xxi 

EARLY  CHRISTIAN  AND    BYZANTINE 
ARCHITECTURE 1-71 

Beginnings  of  Christian  Art,  i,  2. 
Catacombs  of  Rome,  3-13.  Alexan- 
dria and  Syracuse,  13-15.  Oratories, 
15.  Halls  of  Assemblage,  16.  Pri- 
vate Basilicas,  16-18.  Most  Ancient 
Places  of  Public  Worship,  19.  First 
Christian  Basilicas,  20-22.  Their 
Form,  22  -  36.  Employment  of  An- 
tique Temples,  36.  Concentric  Struct- 
ures, 37-39.  Mortuary  Chapels  and 
Baptisteries,  39-46.  S.  Stefano  Ro- 
tondo,  46.  Condition  of  Art  in  the 
Eastern  Empire,  47-49.  Byzantine 
Architecture,  50-63.  Georgia  and 
Armenia,  64-66.  Russia,  66-71. 

EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE 
PAINTING  AND  SCULPTURE.  72-118 

Paintings  of  the  Catacombs,  72-79. 
Employment  of  Antique  Mural  Dec- 
orations, 79,  80.  Mosaics  in  the  Ba- 
silicas, 80-85.  Byzantine  Mosaic 
Work,  85-91.  Troubles  of  the  Icon- 
oclasts, 92.  Miniature  Painting,  93- 
98.  Debasement  of  Monumental  Art, 
98,  99.  Enamel,  100.  Decline  of 
Sculpture,  101.  Statues,  102-106. 
Reliefs  upon  Sarcophagi,  106-109. 
Ivory  Carvings,  110-112.  Work  in 
Precious  Metals,  112-115:  General 
Character  of  Sculpture  and  Painting, 
115,  116.  Russia,  116,  118. 


ASIA.  —  THE  PERSIANS  UNDER  THE 
SASSANID^E.  THE  INDIAN  AND 
EASTERN  ASIATIC  RACES, 

Page  119-154 

Sassanian  Architecture,  120-124. 
Sassanian  Sculpture,  124-127.  Late 
Growth  of  Indian  Art,  128.  Monu- 
ments erected  by  King  Asoka,  129, 
130.  Monuments  of  the  First  Chris- 
tian Centuries,  131-133.  Chaitya 
Grottos,  134-137.  Vihara  Grottos, 
138,  139.  Buddhist  Style,  140-143. 
Jaina  Style,  144,  145.  Dravidian 
Style,  146,  147.  Indian  Sculpture, 
148-150.  Painting,  151.  China  and 
Japan, 151-154. 

MOHAMMEDAN  ART  ....  155-201 
Textile  Origin,  156-158.  Byzan- 
tine Influence,  159,  160.  Buildings 
in  Egypt,  160-171.  The  Style  in  Per- 
sia, 172.  Transformation  of  Indian 
Architecture,  172-176.  Development 
of  Moorish  Architecture  in  Southern 
Spain,  and  the  Older  Style  of  Cordo- 
va, 177-181.  The  more  recent  Style  of 
Seville  and  Granada,  182-191.  Sicily 
and  the  Northern  Coast  of  Africa,  191 
192.  Norman  Successors  in  Sicily 
192, 193.  Later  Persia,  193.  Turkey, 
194.  Sculpture,  195-197.  Textile  In- 
dustry, Mosaic  and  Painting,  198-201. 

THE  CHRISTIAN  ART  OF  THE  NORTH 
UNTIL  THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  CAROLIN- 
GIAN  EPOCH 202-249 

The  Beginnings  of  Christian  Art 
among  the  Germanic  Races,  203.  The 
Ostrogoths,  204-207.  The  Buildings 


IV 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 


of  the  Lombards,  207.  Gaul  and  West- 
ern Germany  in  the  Time  of  the  Me- 
rovingians, 208-214.  Few  Remains 
preserved,  214, 215.  Buildings  of  the 
Carolingian  Epoch,  216-232.  Sculpt- 
ure of  the  Ostrogoths  and  Lombards, 

233-235- 

Races  of  the  North :  Braided  Work, 
Wood-carvings,  and  Metal  Work  be- 
fore Charlemagne,  235-238.  Influ- 
ence of  Charlemagne,  239, 240.  Ivory 
Carvings,  240,  241. 

Painting:  Mosaics  and  Wall  Paint- 
ing, 241,  242.  Miniature  Painting, 
243.  245-249- 

ROMANIC  ARCHITECTURE  IN  GERMA- 
NY      Page  250-308 

Supremacy  of  the  Germans  and 
their  Position  towards  the  Church, 
250-253.  Ecclesiastical  Architect- 
ure of  Saxony,  254-273.  The  Rhenish 
Countries,  274,  275.  Westphalia,  276. 
Hesse  and  Franconia,  277.  Southern 
Germany,  278-280.  First  Vaulted 
Constructions  in  the  Rhenish  Prov- 
inces, 281-293.  Slow  Advance  of 
Saxony,  294.  The  North -German 
Lowlands,  294,  295.  Suabia  and  Ale- 
mannia,  295,  296.  Convents,  297-301. 
Castles,  301-307.  Dwellings,  307, 308. 

ARCHITECTURE    OF    THE    ROMANIC 
EPOCH 309-396 

Italy :  Its  Political  Fortunes,  309, 
310.  Province  of  the  Po,  311-320. 
Venice,  320-322.  Central  Italy,  323. 
Tuscany,  324-329.'  Southern  Italy 
and  Sicily,  330-335. 

France :  Southern  France,  335-346. 
Auvergne,  347-349.  Burgundy,  350- 
353.  Western  Switzerland,  then  a 
Province  of  Burgundy,  353,  354. 
Western  France,  355-359.  Norman- 
dy, 360-366.  Position  of  the  Mid- 
land Provinces  of  France,  367. 

Spain :  The  Visigoths,  368,  369. 
Asturias,  370-372.  Moorish  Influ- 
ences, 373.  Prodominance  of  the  In- 
fluence of  Southern  France,  374-378. 


Great  Britain:  Timbered  Archi- 
tecture of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  378,  379. 
Norman  Architecture,  380-387.  Scot- 
land and  Ireland,  388-390. 

Sc andina-uia :  Timbered  Architect- 
ure of  Norway,  391  -  394.  Rarity  of 
Stone  Constructions,  394,  395.  Swe- 
den, 396. 

PAINTING  OF  THE  ROMANIC  EPOCH, 

Page  397-439 

Retention  of  Traditional  Forms, 
397,  398. 

Germany:  Monastic  Art  —  Mural 
Decoration,  399-404.  Paintings  upon 
Panelled  Ceilings,  405.  Painting  upon 
Panels,  406, 407.  Glass  Painting,  408, 
409.  Weaving  and  Embroidery,  410. 
Miniatures,  41 1-422. 

Italy:  Position  of  Italy  in  the  Tenth 
and  Eleventh  Centuries,  423.  By- 
zantinism,  424,  425.  Lower  Italy  and 
Sicily,  426.  Venice,  426,  427.  Tus- 
cany, 427.  Textile  Industry,  428. 
Painting  upon  Panels,  428, 429.  Min- 
iature Painting,  430. 

France:  Its  Inactivity,  430,  431. 
Mural  Painting,  432.  Glass  Painting, 
433.  Tapestries,  433, 434.  Miniature 
Painting,  434, 435.  Spain,  436.  Eng- 
land, 437,  438.  Scandinavia,  439. 

SCULPTURE  OF  THE  ROMANIC  EPOCH, 

440-479 

Its  Subordinate  Position,  440. 

Germany:  Stone  Sculpture,  441- 
447.  Wood  Carvings,  447, 448.  Prefer- 
ence for  Metal  Work — Bronze  Gates, 
449-451.  Bronze  Funeral  Monuments 
and  Baptismal  Fonts,  452, 453.  Gold- 
smiths' Work,  454-459.  Utensils  of 
Metal,  460,  461.  Ivory  Carving,  461- 
464. 

Italy:  Rude  beginnings  of  Stone 
Sculpture,  464-466.  Improvements 
in  this  branch,  467.  Classicism  in 
Lower  Italy,  468,  469.  Sculpture  in 
Bronze,  470, 47 1 .  Goldsmiths'  Work, 
472. 

France :  Stone  Sculpture,  473-477. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 


Bronze  Casting  of  the  Dinandiers 
and  Enamel  Work  of  Limoges,  477- 
479.  Spain,  England,  and  Scandi- 
navia, 479. 

GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE  IN  FRANCE, 
Page  480-519 

Character  of  the  Innovation,  480, 

481.  Artistic  Conditions  in  France, 

482.  Normandy  and  Burgundy,  483. 
St.  Denis,  484, 485.     The  Early  Goth- 
ic Style,  485-495.     The  Style  of  the 
Thirteenth  Century,  496-498.     Slow 
Advance  of  Normandy  and  Burgun- 
dy, 499.  Southern  France,  500.  West- 
ern France,  501.     The  Fully -devel- 
oped style,  502-5 1 2.    Its  Debasement, 
512-517.     Palatial  Architecture,  517, 
518.     Dwellings,  518,  519. 

THE  EXTENSION  OF  GOTHIC  ARCHI- 
TECTURE      520-593 

Dependence  of  the  Remainder  of 
Europe  upon  France,  520. 

England ' :  Early  English  Style,  521- 
527.  The  Decorated  Style,  528-530. 
The  Perpendicular  Style,  531-533. 
Ireland  and  Scotland,  533. 

Germany :  Transitional  Period, 
534-542.  Imitation  of  French  Mod- 
els, 542-545.  Predominance  of  the 
French  Style  in  the  Rhenish  Cathe- 
drals, 545-549.  French  Architects, 
5  50,  5  5 1 .  Variety  and  Logical  Charac- 
ter of  German  Gothic,  552,  553.  Tow- 
ers, 553,  554.  Equal-aisled  Churches, 
554-559.  Decline,  560.  Convents,  561. 
Palaces,  562.  Town -halls,  Guild- 
halls, Hospitals,  Dwellings,  563,  564. 

Italy :  Obscurity  of  the  Begin- 
nings, 565,  566.  Gradual  Introduc- 
tion of  the  Style,  567.  The  Edifices 
of  the  Franciscans  and  Dominicans, 
568, 569.  Cathedrals,  570-572.  Pict- 
uresque Character,  Mixed  Style,  572- 
578.  Lower  Italy,  579.  Secular 
Buildings,  580,  581. 

Spain :  Reign  of  Ferdinand  III. 
and  Alfonso  the  Wise,  582-584.  In- 
creasing Luxury,  585,  586.  Convent 


and     Secular     Buildings,    586,    587. 
Portugal,  587. 

The  Netherlands:  Belgium  —  Ca- 
thedrals, 588-590.  Public  Buildings, 
590.  Holland,  591,  592. 

SCANDINAVIA   AND   THE   COUNTRIES 
OF  THE  EAST    .    .    .  Page  592,  593 

THE    SCULPTURE.  OF    THE    GOTHIC 
EPOCH 594-644 

Altered  Circumstances,  594-596. 

France:  Inferiority  of  Sculpture 
compared  to  Architecture,  596,  597. 
Development  in  the  Thirteenth  Cen- 
tury, 598,  599.  Degeneration,  599, 
600.  Funeral  Monuments,  601,  602. 
Metal  Work,  602,  603. 

The  Netherlands :  The  Schools  of 
Dinant  and  Tournay,  603.  Activity 
in  Dijon,  604-606. 

England :  Dependence  upon 
France,  Italy,  and  Germany,  607. 
Funeral  Monuments,  608-610.  Ec- 
clesiastical Sculpture,  610,  611. 

Germany :  Transitional  Epoch, 6 1 1, 
612.  Sculptures  of  Naumburg,  613. 
Sculptures  of  the  Rhenish  Cathe- 
drals, 614, 615.  Nuremberg,  615,616. 
Funeral  Monuments  in  Stone,  617, 
618.  Sculpture  in  Clay,  Wood,  and 
Metal,  619-622.  Preponderance  of 
Wood  Carving,  622,  627.  Its  Reflex 
Influence  on  Stone  Sculpture,  627- 
629.  The  Foundery  of  Nuremberg, 
629-632. 

Italy :  Study  of  the  Antique,  632- 
634.  Giovanni  Pisano  and  his  Pu- 
pils, 635-641.  Metal  Sculpture,  641, 
642.  Spain,  642-644.  The  East  and 
North-east  of  Europe,  644. 

PAINTING  OF  THE  GOTHIC  EPOCH, 

645-710 

Unfavorable  Circumstances,  645, 
646.  Preponderance  of  Glass  Paint- 
ing and  Illumination,  647-649. 

France :  Mural  Painting  and  Stain- 
ed Glass,  649-651.  Neglect  of  Panel 
Painting,  651,  652.  Influence  of  the 


VI 


TABLE    OF   CONTENTS. 


Library  of  Louis  IX.  upon  Illumina- 
tion, 652,  653.  Collections  of  Charles 
V.  and  his  Brothers,  653-655.  Influ- 
ence of  the  Netherlands,  654.  J .  Fou- 
quet,  656,  657. 

England:  Dependence  upon  the 
Continent,  657,  658. 

Italy:  Contrasts  between  Italian 
and  French  Art,  658,  659.  Cimabue 
and  Guido  of  Siena,  660.  Giotto, 
661-666.  School  of  Giotto,  666-668. 
School  of  Siena,  668-671.  Masolino 
and  Fiesole,  671,  672.  Panel  Paint- 
ing, 673,  674.  Illumination,  675. 

Germany:  Reminiscences  of  the 
Romanic  Style,  676.  Mural  Paint- 
ings in  Churches  and  Palaces,  677- 
680.  Architectural  Style  of  the  Paint- 
ings upon  Glass,  68 1.  The  Textile 
Arts,  682.  Panel  Painting  in  Prague 


and  Cologne,  683-687.  In  Nurem- 
berg, 687-690.  In  Suabia,  690-693. 
In  Bavaria  and  Austria,  694.  Illumi- 
nations, Wood-cuts,  and  Engravings, 
695-698. 

The  Netherlands:  Mural  Paint- 
ing and  Stained  Glass,  698.  The 
Textile  Arts,  699.  Beginnings  of 
Panel  Painting,  699,  700.  The  Broth- 
ers Van  Eyck,  700-704.  School  of 
Ghent  and  Bruges,  704,  705.  Rogier 
Van  der  Weyden  and  the  School  of 
Brabant,  705,  706.  Dierik  Bouts  and 
the  Dutch  School,  707.  Memling, 
707,  708.  Followers,  708.  Illumi- 
nations, 708,  709. 

Conclusion,  709,  710. 

INDEX  OF  ARTISTS'  NAMES    .    .    719 
INDEX  OF  PLACES 723 


LIST   OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


EARLY  CHRISTIAN  AND  BYZANTINE  ARCHITECTURE. 


PIGCRK  PAGE 

1.  The  Mythrseum  under  S.  Clemente 

in  Rome.  (G.  B.  de  Rossi, ' '  Bul- 
letino  di  Archeologia  Cristiana." 
Roma,  1863,  seq.)  I 

2.  Plan  of  the  Catacomb  of  Calixtus. 

(G.  B.  de  Rossi,"  Roma  Sotterra- 
nea."  Roma,  1864-1867.) .  .  5 

3.  Third  Crypt  of  the  Northern  Pas- 

sage in  the  Catacomb  of  Calixtus. 
(The  same.)  ....  7 

4.  Papal  Vault  in  the  Catacomb  of  Ca- 

lixtus.    (The  same.)  .  .8 

5.  Forms  of  Tombs  in  the  Catacombs. 

(F.  X.  Kraus,  "Roma  Sotterra- 
nea."  Second  Edition.  Freiburg, 
1879.)  ...  .  .  9 

6.  Plan  of  a  Crypt  in  the  Ccemeteri- 

um  ad  septem  Columbas.  (The 
same.)  .  .  .  .10 

7.  Section  of  a  Crypt  in  the  Catacomb 

of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Marcellinus. 
(The  same.)  .  .  .  .12 

8.  Section   and    Plan  of   Part   of   the 

Catacombs  of  Alexandria.  (G.  B. 
de  Rossi,"  Bullet,  di  Arch.  Crist." 
Roma,  1863,  seq.)  .  .  .14 

9.  Antique    Mausoleum    (Canina,  Via 

Appia)  and  Oratories.  (G.  B. 
de  Rossi,  "Roma  Sotteranea." 
Roma,  1864-1867,)  .  .15 

10.  Antique  Palace  Basilicas.     (L.  Ca- 

nina, Via  Appia  and  F.  Reber, 
"Die  Ruinen  Roms. "  Second 
Edition.  Leipzig,  1875.)  .  ..  18 

11.  Basilica  of  St.  Symphorosa.     (F.  X. 

Kraus,"  Roma  Sotteranea."  Frei- 
burg, 1879.)        •  •         .21 
12-14.   Plans  of  St.  Peter,  S.  Clemente, 
and   S.  Paolo  fuori   le    Mura  in 
Rome.     Q.  G.  Gutensohn  and  J. 


M.  Knapp,  "Die  Basiliken  des 
Christlichen  Rom."  Muenchen, 
without  date.)  .  23,  24 

15.  View  of  the  Interior  of  S.  Pietro  in 

Vincoli.     (The  same.)          .         .     25 

16.  View  of  the  Interior  of  S.  Prassede 

in  Rome.     (The  same.)      .         .     29 

17.  View  of  the  Interior  of  S.  Agnese 

near  Rome.     (The  same.)  .         .     31 

18.  Section  of  the  Basilica  of  S.  Paolo 

fuori  le  Mura  near  Rome.  (The 
same.)  .....  32 

19.  View  of  a  Part  of  the  Basilica  of  S. 

Apollinare  in  Classe  near  Raven- 
na. (H.  Otte, ' '  Geschichte  der  ro- 
manischen  Baukunst  in  Deutsch- 
land."  Leipzig,  1874.)  .  .  34 

20.  Cupolas  of  the  late  Roman  Epoch. 

(L.  Canina,"  Gli  Edifizi  di  Roma 
Antica."  Roma,  without  date.)  .  38 

21.  So-called  Temple  of  Minerva  Med- 

ica.  (H.  Huebsch,  "Die  alt- 
christlichen  Kirchen."  Karlsruhe, 
1862.) 39 

22.  Plan  and  Section  of  S.  Constanza  in 

Rome.     (The  same.) .         .         .41 

23.  Plan  and  Section  of  the  Baptistery 

of  the  Lateran.     (The  same.)      .     42 

24.  25.    Baptisteries  near  the  Basilica  of 

S.  Ursiana  and  near  S.  Teodoro 
in  Ravenna.  (G.  B.  de  Rossi, 
"  Bullet,  di  Arch.  Crist,"  Roma, 
1863,  seq.) 43 

26,  27.  The  Mortuary  Chapel  of  Galla 
Placidia  in  Ravenna.  Views  of 
Interior  and  Exterior.  (From  a 
Photograph.)  .  .  .44, 45 

28.  Basilica  of  Turmanin  in  Syria.  (M. 
De  Vogue" , "  Syrie  Centrale. "  Par- 
is, 1865.) 49 


Vlll 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


29.  Plan  and  Section  of  S.  Lorenzo  in 

Milan.  (H.  Huebsch,"  Die  alt- 
christlichen  Kirchen."  Karls- 
ruhe, 1862.)  .  .  .  .52 

30.  Plan  and  Section  of  S.Vitale  in  Ra- 

venna. (H.  Otte,  "  Handbuch 
der  kirchlichen  Kunstarchseol- 
ogie."  Fifth  Edition.  Leipzig, 
1884.) 53 

31.  Byzantine  Capitals  from  S.Vitale  in 

Ravenna.  (From  Photographs 
and  J.  Gailhabaud,  Monuments. 
Paris,  1846.)  .  .  -55 

32.  Plan  of  the  Church  of  St.  Sergius  in 

Constantinople.  (H.  Huebsch,  as 
above.)  ....  56 

33.  Plan  of  the  Church  of  St.  Sophia  in 

Constantinople.  (W.  Salzenberg, 
"Altchristliche  Baudenkmale  von 
Constantinople."  Berlin,  1864.)  57 

34.  View  of  the  Interior  of  the  Church 

of  St.  Sophia  in  Constantinople. 


FIOCBI  PAGE 

(Reconstruction,  from  a  Photo- 
graph.)   59 

35.  Plan   of  the   Church   of   St.  Irene. 

(H.  Huebsch,  as  above.)     .         .     60 

36.  Plan  and  Section  of  the  Pantepoptes 

Church  in  Constantinople.  (D. 
Pulgher, "  Les  Anciennes  Eglises 
Byzantines  de  Constantinople." 
Vienne,  1878.)  .  .  .  -63 

37.  Church  at   Ani.      (From  a  Photo- 

graph.)         65 

38.  Church  of  Our  Lady  (Pakrova)  near 

the  Cloister  Bogolubor.  (E.Viol- 
let-le-Duc,"  L' Art  Russe."  Par- 
is, 1877.) 67 

39.  40.  Cupola-towers  of  the  Church  of 

St.  Sophia  at   Kiev,  and  of   the 
Vassili    Blaggenoi    in     Moscow. 
(The  same.)        .         .         .         .69 
41.   House  of  a  Russian  Boyar.     (The 

same.) 70 


EARLY  CHRISTIAN  AND  BYZANTINE  PAINTING  AND  SCULPTURE. 


42.  Orpheus  and  the  Animals.     Wall- 

painting  in  the  Catacomb  of  Ca- 
lixtus. (L.  Perret,  "  Les  Cata- 
combs de  Rome."  Paris,  1851- 

1855.) 72 

43.  Decorated  Crypt  in  the  Catacomb 

of  Calixtus,  called  that  of  Ocea- 
nus.  (G.  B.  de  Rossi,  "  Roma 
Sott."  Roma,  1864-1867.)  .  74 

44.  Noah  in  the  Ark.      Wall-painting 

in  the  Catacomb  of  Calixtus.  (L. 
Perret,  as  above.)  .  .  -77 

45.  Fresco  in  the  Catacomb  of  S.  Ag- 

nese.  The  Good  Shepherd  and 
other  representations.  (The  same.)  78 

46.  Wall-decoration  of  the  Basilica  of 

Junius  Bassus.  After  a  drawing 
by  A.  da  Sangallo,  now  in  the 
Barberini  Library.  (G.  B.  de 
Rossi,  "  Bullet,  di  Arch.  Crist." 
Roma,  1863,  seq.)  .  .  .80 

47.  Mosaic  in  the  Apse  of  S.  Pudenziana 

in  Rome.  (J.  Labarte,"  Histoire 
des  Arts  Industriels  en  Moyen- 
Age."  Paris,  1864.)  .  .  .81 

48.  Mosaic  on  the  Triumphal  Arch  of  S. 

Paolo  fuori  le  Mura  near  Rome. 
(J.  G.  Gutensohn  and  J.  M. 
Knapp,  as  above.)  .  .  .  83 


49-   Mosaic  in  the  Apse  of  SS.  Cosma  e 

Damiano  in  Rome.     (The  same.)     84 

50.  Mosaic  Portrait  of  the  Emperor  Jus- 

tinian in  the  Chapel  of  All  Saints 
of  S.  Apollinare  Nuovo  in  Raven- 
na. (From  a  Photograph.)  .  .  87 

51.  The  Empress  Theodora  with  the  La- 

dies of  her  Court  in  S.  Vitale. 
Mosaic  in  that  Church.  (From  a 
Photograph.)  .  .  .  .89 

52.  St.  Agnes.     Mosaic  in  the  Apse  of 

the  Church  of  S.  Agnese  near 
Rome.  (L.  Perret,  as  above.)  .  91 

53.  Miniature  from  the  Codex  of  Dios- 

corides,  now  in  the  Imperial  Li- 
brary of  Vienna.  (J.  Labarte,  as 
above.) 94 

54.  Jacob  and  his  Sons.    From  Genesis, 

now  in  the  Imperial  Library  of 
Vienna.  (The  same.)  .  .  95 

55.  Miniature  from  the  Syrian  Gospel  of 

Zagba,  now  in  the  Laurentiana  in 
.     Florence.     (The  same.)      .         .     97 

56.  The  Emperor  Manuel  Palseologus, 

with  the  Imperial  "Prince  and 
Princess.  Miniature  from  a  By- 
zantine Codex  now  in  the  Louvre. 
(The  same.)  .  .  .  .98 

57.  Byzantine  Enamel  from  the  Binding 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


IX 


of  a  Codex  now  in  the  Library 

of  S.  Marco,  Venice.    (The  same.)  100 

58.  Statue  of  the  Good  Shepherd  in  the 

Museum    of   the    Lateran.      (L. 
Ferret,  as  above.)        .         .         .   104 

59.  Statue  of  St.  Peter  in  the  Church  of 

S.  Pietro,  Rome.     (From  a  Pho- 
tograph.)     105 

60.  Odysseus  and  the  Sirens.    Fragment 

of    an    Early    Christian    Relief. 
(From  a  Photograph.)          .         .   106 

61.  Relief  carved  upon  a  Sarcophagus 

in  the  Museum  of  the  Lateran. 
(L.  Perret,  as  above.) .         .         .   107 

62.  The  Passage  of  the  Red  Sea.     Re- 


lief upon  a  Sarcophagus  in  Spala- 
tro.  ("  Jahrbuch  der  k.  k.  Cen- 
tralcommission  ftir  Erhaltungder 
Baudenkmaler."  Vol.  V.)  .  .  108 

63.  Coffin  of  Lead,  found  at  Saida,  Phoe- 

nicia ;  now  in  Cannes.  (G.  B. 
de  Rossi,"  Bullet  di  Arch.  Crist." 
Roma,  1863,  seq.)  .  .  .  109 

64.  Diptych  of  the  Consul  Anastasius, 

A.D.  515,  in  the  National  Li- 
brary, Paris.  (From  a  Photo- 
graph.)   in 

65.  The  Two  Marys  at  the  Sepulchre. 

Relief  of   Gold   in  the  Louvre. 

(J.  Labarte,  as  above.)         .         .   113 


66.  Fa9ade  of  the  Palace  of  Khosru  at 

Ctesiphon.  (E.  Flandin  et  P. 
Coste,"  Voyage  en  Perse."  Par- 
is, s.  a.) 119 

67.  Section  of  one  of  the  Domed  Halls 

of  Firuz-Abad.     (The  same.)      .   122 

68.  Fa9ade  of  the  Palace  of  Sarbistan. 

(The  same.)        .         .         .         .123 

69.  Sassanian    Capital,    from    Ispahan. 

(The  same.)        ....   124 

70.  Sassanian    Monument    at   Takht-i- 

Gero.     (The  same.)    .         .         .   125 

71.  The  Capture  of  the  Emperor  Valeri- 

an by  Shahpur  I.  Rock-cut  Re- 
lief at  Nakhsh-i-Rustam.  (The 
same.)  .  .  .  .  .126 

72.  Restored  View  and  Section  of  the 

Great  Tope  of  Sanchi.  (J.  Fer- 
gusson,  "  History  of  Indian  and 
Eastern  Architecture."  London, 
1867) 131 

73.  Restored  Half  Vie\v  and  Section  of 

the  Tope  of  Manikyala.  (The 
same.)  .....  132 

74.  The  Nigope  Grotto  near  Barabar. 

(The  same.)        ....   135 


ASIA. 

75- 

76. 


77- 


7S. 


79- 


So. 


Si. 


82. 


Chailya  Temple  of  Bhaja.  (The 
same.) 136 

Plan  and  Section  of  the  Chaitya 
Temple  of  Karli.  (The  same.)  .  137 

Plan  of  the  Vihara  Grotto  of  Ajanta. 
(The  same.)  ....  140 

Buddhist  Supports  with  Console 
Capitals.  (The  same.)  .  .  142 

Buddhist  Columns  with  Floral  and 
Animal  Ornamentations.  (The 
same.)  .....  143 

Columns  of  the  Jaina  Style.  (The 
same.) 145 

The  so-called  Rathas  of  Mahavelli- 
pore.  (The  same.)  .  .  .  147 

Relief  from  the  Tope  of  Amravati. 
(J.  Fergusson, "  Tree  and  Serpent 
Worship  ;  or,  Illustrations  of  My- 
thology and  Art  in  India."  Lon- 
don, 1868.)  ....  149 

Relief  from  the  Tope  of  Sanchi. 
(The  Same.)  .  .  .  .150 

Pagoda  of  Tung-Chow,  China.  (J. 
Fergusson,  "  History  of  Indian 
and  Eastern  Architecture."  Lon- 
don, 1876.)  ....  153 


85.  Fa£ade    of     the    Alcazar,    Seville. 

(From  a  Photograph.)          .         .   155 

86.  Plan  and  Section  of  the  Kubbet-es- 

Sachra  (Mosque  of  the  Rock),  Je- 
rusalem. (M.  De  Vogue,  "  Le 
Temple  de  Jerusalem."  Paris, 
1864.) 160 


MOHAMMEDAN  AET. 

87 


Plan  of  the  Mosque  of  Amru,  Cairo. 

(J,    Fergusson,    "  Handbook    of 

Architecture."  London,  1859.)  .  163 
Interior  of  the  Mosque  of  Amru 

in  Cairo.  (From  a  Photograph.)  166 
View  of  the  Mosque  of  Ibn-Tulun 

in  Cairo.     (From  a  Photograph.)  168 


X 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


go.   View  of  the  Mosque  of  Kait-Bey  in 

Cairo.     (From  a  Photograph)  .   170 

91.  Plan  of  the  Mosque  of  Ajmir.     (J. 

Fergusson,  "History  of  Indian 
and  Eastern  Architecture."  Lon- 
don, 1876.)  ....  173 

92.  View  of  the  Mosque  of  Kalburgah. 

(The  same.)      .         .         .         .   175 

93.  Plan  of  the  Mosque  of  Jumma  at 

Bijapur.     (The  same.)      .         .176 

94.  Plan  and  Section  of  the  Chief  Cu- 

pola of  the  Mosque  of  Jumma 

at  Bijapur.     (The  same.)  .         .177 

95.  Plan  of  the   Mosque  of  Cordova. 

(J.  Fergusson,  "  Handbook  of 
Architecture."  London,  1859.)  179 

96.  View  of  the  Interior  of  the  Mosque 

of  Cordova.  (From  a  Photo- 
graph.)   180 

97.  The   Giralda  of  the  Cathedral  of 

Seville.     (From  a  Photograph.)  183 

98.  Arcade  of  the  Alcazar  in  Seville. 

(Westermann's  "  Illustrirte  Mo- 
natshefte."  Braunschweig,  1883.)  184 


99.  Capitals  from  the  Alhambra.  (From 

a  Photograph.)  .          .          .186 

100.  Part  of  the  Court  of  the  Myrtles 

in  the  Alhambra.  (Girault  de 
Prangey, ' '  Monuments  Arabes  et 
Moresques  de  Cordova,  Sevilla 
et  Grenade."  Paris,  1835-1839.)  188 

101.  The  Court  of  the  Lions  in  the  Al- 

hambra.    (The  same.)       .         .189 

102.  The  Kuba  near  Palermo.    (H.  Gai- 

ly Knight,"  Saracenic  and  Nor- 
man Remains  to  Illustrate  the 
Normans  in  Sicily."  London, 
1840.) 192 

103.  Marble  Relief  from  Granada.    (Gi- 

rault de  Prangey,  as  above.) .     .   197 

104.  Miniature  in  a  Manuscript  of  Ibn 

Zafer,  of  Sicily,  Library  of  the 
Escurial.  (From  a  Photograph.)  198 

105.  Painting  from  the   Hall  of  Judg- 

ment in  the  Alhambra.    (Girault 

de  Prangey,  .as  above.)      .         .199 

106.  Painting  from  the  Hall  of  Judg- 

ment in  the  Alhambra.  (The 
same.)  .....  200 


THE  CHRISTIAN  AET  OF  THE  NOETH  UNTIL  THE  CLOSE  OF  THE 
CAEOLINGIAN  EPOCH. 


107.  Part  of  the  so-called  Palace  of  The- 

odoric  in  Ravenna.  (From  a 
Photograph.)  ....  202 

108.  Restored  Plan  and  Section  of  the 

Cathedral  of  Treves.  (Ch.  W. 
Schmidt,"  Baudenkmale  in  Tri- 
er." Trier,  1836-1845.)  .  .  203 

109.  Capital  from  the  so-called  Palace 

of  Theodoric.  (R.  Rahn,"Ein 
Besuch  in  Ravenna."  Leipzig, 
1869.) 205 

no.  Mausoleum  of  Theodoric  in  Raven- 
na. (From  a  Photograph.) .  .  206 

in.  Baptistery  of  the  Patriarch  Calix- 
tus  in  S.  Giovanni,  Cividale. 
("Jahrbuch  derk.  k.  Centralcom- 
mission."  II.  Wien,  1857.)  .  207 

112.  The    Baptistery  of   Poitiers.      (J. 

Gailhabaud,  "  Monuments  An- 
cienset  Modernes."  Paris,  1850.)  215 

113.  Plan  and  Section  of  the   Minster 

of  Aix-la-Chapelle  in  its  Original 
Arrangement.  (Altered  from 
E.  Foerster,  "  Denkmale  der 


deutschen  Baukunst,  Bildnerei 
und  Malerie. "  Leipzig,  1853- 
1869.) 219 

114.  Restored  View  of  the  Choir  of  the 

Nuns  in  the  Abbey  Church  of 
Essen.  (F.  V.  Quast  und  H. 
Otte,  "Zeitschrift  fur  christ- 
liche  Archseologie  und  Kunst." 
I.  Leipzig,  1856.)  .  .  .  222 

115.  View  of  the  Interior  of  the  Church 

of  Ottmarsheim.  (Golbery  et 
Schweighaeuser,  "  Antiquites 
d' Alsace.")  ....  223 

116.  Plan  of  the  Church  of  Ottmarsheim. 

(The  same.)      ....   223 

117.  Plan  of  the  Chapel  of  St.  Michael 

in  Fulda.  (H.  V.  Dehn-  Rot- 
felser,  "  Mittelalterliche  Bau- 
denkmaelerin  Kurhessen."  Cas- 
sel,  1866.)  ....  225 

118.  Details  of  Columns  from  the  Chap- 

el of  St.  Michael  in  Fulda.  (The 
same.) 226 

119.  The  Carolingian  Cloister  Plan  of 


LIST    OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


XI 


FIGURE  FiGE 

St.  Gall.  (F.  Keller,  "  Bauriss 
des  Klosters  von  St.  Gallen  vom 
Jahre  820."  Zurich,  1844.)  .  227 

1 20.  Portal  of  the   Cloister  of  Lorsch. 

(J.  Gailhabaud,  as  above.)          .   230 

121.  Pilaster  Capital  from  the  Portal  of 

Lorsch.     (The  same.)       .         .  231 

122.  Capital  and  Impost  from  the  West- 

ern Wing  of  the  Cloister  Church 
of  Corvey.  (W.  Luebke,"Die 
mittelalterliche  Kunst  in  West- 
falen."  Leipzig,  1853.)  .  .  232 

123.  Relief  from  the  Front  Side  of  the 

Altar  of  Duke  Pemmo  in  the 
Church  of  St.  Martin  in  Cividale. 
("Jahrbuch  der  k.  k.  Central- 
commission."  II.  Wien,  1857.)  234 

124.  So-called  Pax  of  the  Duke  Ursus 

in  Cividale.     (The  same.)         .  235 

125.  Sword  of  King  Childeric,  now  in 

the  Louvre.  (J.  Labarte,  as 
above.) 237 

126.  Crown  of  Reccesvinthus,  King  of 

the  Visigoths,  now  in  the  Musee 
Cluny,  Paris.  (The  same.)  .  238 

127.  Brooch  of  German  Workmanship 

dating  to  the  Eighth  Century  ; 
found  at  Wittislingen.  Now  in 
the  National  Museum  of  Mu- 
nich. (From  a  Photograph.)  .  239 


FIGURE  PAGE 

128.  The  Chalice  of  Thassilo  in  Krems- 

muenster.  (H.  Otte,"Handbuch 
der  kirchlichen  Kunstarchseo- 
logie."  Fifth  Edition.  Leipzig, 
1884.) 240 

129.  Relief  of  Ivory,  the  work  of  the 

Monk  Tutilo  of  St.  Gall.  (R. 
Rahn,  "  Gcschichte  der  bilden- 
den  Kuenste  in  der  Schweiz." 
Zurich,  1876.)  ....  241 

130.  Miniature  from  the  Gospel  of  Du- 

row,  Seventh  Century.  Trinity 
College,  Dublin.  (J.  O.  West- 
wood,"  Facsimiles  of  the  Mini- 
atures and  Ornaments  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  and  Irish  Manuscripts." 
London,  1868.)  .  .  .  243 

131.  St.  Matthew  the  Evangelist,  from  a 

Miniature  dating  to  the  Eighth 
or  Ninth  Century.  St.  Gall.  (The 
same.) 244 

132.  Initial  IN  from  the  Evangeliarium 

of  Godescalc.  National  Library 
of  Paris.  (R.  Rahn,"  Das  Psal- 
terium  Aureum  von  St.  Gallen." 
St.  Gallen,  1878.)  .  .  .246 

133.  David  Feigning  Madness.    Minia- 

ture from  the  Codex  Aureus  of 
Charles  the  Bald  in  St.  Gall. 
(The  same.)  ....  248 


EOMANIO  AKCHITECTURE  IN  GEKMANY. 


134.  The  Abbey  Church  of  Laach.    (E. 

Foerster,  as  above.)  .         .         .   250 

135.  Plan  of  a  normal  Romanic  Basili- 

ca, that  of  Hecklingen.  (L.  Put- 
trich,  "  Denkmale  der  deutsch- 
en  Baukunst  des  Mittelalters  in 
Sachsen."  Leipzig,  1835-1852.)  255 

136.  Plan  of  the  Romanic  Basilica  of 

Paulinzelle.    (The  same.) .         .  256 

137.  Plan  of  the  Church  of  St.  Code- 

hard,  Hildesheim.  (E.W.  Hase, 
W.  Stock, and  others,"  Die  mit- 
telalterlichen  Baudenkmaeler 
Niedersachsens. "  Hannover, 
1856-1882.)  .  .  .257 

138.  Typical  Romanic  Column.   (Draw- 

ing by  P.  Rueckert.)          .         .  258 

139.  Capitals    from    Huyseburg.      (H. 

Otte,  "  Geschichte  der  roman- 
ischen  Baukunst  in  Deutschland." 
Leipzig,  1874.)  .  .  .259 


140.  Capitals   from    Hamersleben    and 

Alpirsbach.  (E.  W.  Hase,  W. 
Stock,  as  above.)  .  .  .  260 

141.  Capitals  from  the  Abbey  Church 

of  Brauweiler.  ( Fr.  Bock, 
"  Rheinlands  Baudenkmaeler 
des  Mittelalters."  Koeln,  with- 
out date.)  ....  261 

142-144.  Systems  of  the  Cloister  Church 
of  Paulinzelle,  the  Collegiate 
Church  of  Gemrode,  and  the 
Collegiate  Church  of  St.  Micha- 
el at  Hildesheim.  (L.  Puttrich, 
as  above,  and  E.  W.  Hase,  as 
above.)  .  .  .  .  .  262 

145-147.  Systems  of  the  Church  of  Drue- 
beck,  the  Church  of  Our  Lady 
at  Halberstadt,  and  the  Church 
of  Thalbuergel.  (The  same, 
etc.).  .  .  .  .263 

148.   Interior  of  the  Collegiate  Church 


Xll 


LIST    OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


of  Gernrode.  (L.  Puttrich,  as 
above.) 265 

149.  Section  of  Early  Christian  and  Ro- 

manic Windows.     (Drawing  by 

P.  Rueckert.)    .         .         .         .266 

150,  151.  Portals  of  Altenzelle  and  Thal- 

buergel.  (L.  Puttrich,  as  above.)  268 

152.  Romanic  Decorations.     (H.  Otte, 

"  Geschichte  der  romanischen 
Architektur."  Leipzig,  1874.) .  269 

153.  Church  of  St.  Michael  at  Hildes- 

heim.     (E.  W.  Hase,  W.  Stock, 

as  above.)          ....  270 

154.  Plan  of  the  Cathedral  of  Bremen. 

(H.  A.  Mueller, "Der  Dom  zu 
Bremen."  Bremen,  1861.)  .  273 

155.  Plan   of   the   Convent  Church   of 

Limburg  -  on  -  the  -  Hardt.  (F. 
W.  Geier,  and  R.  Goerz, "  Denk- 
male  der  romanischen  Baukunst 
am  Rhein."  1846.)  .  .  .  274 

156.  Western  Fajade  of  the  Cathedral 

of  Treves,  as  it  appeared  in  the 
Eleventh  Century.  (Chr.  W. 
Schmidt,"  Baudenkmale  in  Tri- 
er." Trier,  1836-1845.)  .  .  276 

157.  Western  Front  of  the  Cathedral  of 

Paderborn.  (W.  Luebke,"  Die 
mittelalterliche  Kunst  in  West- 
falen."  Leipzig,  1853.)  .  .  277 

158.  Plan  of   the  Convent   Church   of 

Hersfeld.  (F.  V.  Quasi,  "  En- 
twicklung  der  kirchlichen  Bau- 
kunst des  Mittelalters."  1858.)  278 

159.  Plan   of   the   Cathedral   of   Gurk. 

(The  same.)      ....  279 

160.  Crypt  of  St.  Gereon  in  Cologne. 

(F.  Bock,  as  above.) .         .         .  282 

161.  Plan  of  the  Cathedral  of  Speyer. 

(Gailhabaud,  Monuments,  etc.) .  286 

162.  View  of  the  Cathedral  of  Speyer. 

(The  same.)      .         .         .         .287 
163-165.  Systems  of  the  Cathedrals  of 
Mayence,  Speyer,  and  Worms. 
(F.V.  Quasi,"  Die  romanischen 
Dome     des     Mittelrheines     zu 
Mainz,  Speier, Worms."  Berlin, 
1853.)       ....    288,  289 
166-168.  Systems  of  Ihe  Convent  Church 
of  Laach,  St.  Maurilius  in  Co- 
logne, and  Ihe  Convenl  Church 


of  Knechtsteden.  (H.  Otte,  as 
above.)  ....  289,  290 

169,  170.  View  of  the  Interior  and  Plan 
of  St.  Mary  of  the  Capitol  in 
Cologne.  (S.  Boisseree, "  Denk- 
male  der  Baukunst  am  Nieder- 
rhein."  1843.)  .  .  .  292 

171,  172.  View  of  the  Interior  and  Plan 
of  Great  St.  Martin  in  Cologne. 
(F.  Bock,  as  above.)  .  .  .  293 

173.  Corbel -table    from    the    Convent 

Church  at  Jerichow.     (H.  Otte, 

as  above.)         ....   295 

174.  Longitudinal  Section  showing  the 

Southern  Side  of  the  Convent 
Church  at  Diesdorf.  (F.  Adler, 
"mittelalterliche  Backsteinbau- 
werke  des  preussischen  Staates. " 
Berlin,  1859.)  ....  296 

175.  Detail  of  the  Cloister  of  the  Nonn- 

berg  at  Salzburg.  ( ' '  Jahrbuch 
der  k.  k.  Centralcommission." 
II.  Wien,  1857.)  .  .  .299 

176.  Cloister  of  the  Great   Minster  of 

Zurich.  (R.  Rahn,"  Geschichte 
der  bildenden  Kuenste  in  der 
Schweiz."  Zurich,  1876.)  .  300 

177.  Barbacan     of     Sonnenberg     near 

Wiesbaden.  ("Jahrbuch  des 
Vereins  von  Alterthumsfreunden 
im  Rheinlande."  XXVIII  )  .  302 

178.  Northern  Side  of  the  Niederburg 

at  Ruedesheim.  (Krieg  von 
Hochfelden,  "  Geschichte  der 
Militaerarchitektur."  1859.)  .  303 

179.  Restored  Section  and  View  of  the 

Eastern  Fajade  of  the  Palace  of 
Dankwarderode  in  Brunswick. 
(L.  Winter,  "  Die  Burg  Dank- 
warderode zu  Braunschweig. " 
Braunschweig,  1883.)  .  .  304 

1 80.  Restored  Section  and  View  of  the 

Imperial  Palace  of  Gelnhausen. 
(The  same.)  ....  305 

181.  Western  Fa£ade  and  Section  of  the 

Palace  of  the  Wartburg.  (The 
same.)  .....  306 

182.  Section  of  the  Double  Chapel  of 

Landsberg.  ( E.  Foerster,  as 
above.) 307 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Xlll 


FIGI-RB 

183.  Interior  of  S.  Ambrogio  in  Milan. 

(From  a.  Photograph.)        .         .  309 

184.  Detail  of  the  Cloister  in  the  Con- 

vent of  Gerusalemme,  Bologna. 
Tenth  Century.  (O.  Mothes, 
"  Die  Baukunst  des  Mittelalters 
in  Italien."  Jena,  1882-1884.)  312 

185.  Section  of  S.  Tommaso  at  Almen- 

no.  (F.  Osten,"  Die  Bauwerke 
in  der  Lombardei  vom  7-14  Jahr- 
hundert. "  Darmstadt,  without 
date.) 

1 86.  Plan  and  System  of  S.  Abondio  in 

Como.  (C.  Boito,  "Architettura 
del  Medio  Evo  in  Italia."  Mi- 
lano,  1880.)  .... 

187.  Plan  and   System   of  SS.  Pietro  e 

Paolo  in  Bologna.  (F.  Osten,  as 
above.)  ..... 

188.  Plan  and  System  of  S.  Micchele  in 

Pavia.  (V.  Ruprich  -  Robert, 
"  L'Architecture  Normande  aux 
XI.  et  XII.  Siecles."  Paris, 
1884.) 

189.  Plan    and  System    of    the   Cathe- 

dral of  Parma.  (F.  Osten,  as 
above.) 

190.  Plan  and  System  of  the  Cathedral 

of  Modena.    (The  same.)  .         .  321 

191.  Plan  of  the  Church  of  St.  Mark  in 

Venice.     (C.  Boito,  as  above.)  .   322 

192.  Portal  of  the  Cathedral  of  Civita 

Castellana.   (C.  Boito,  as  above.)  324 

193.  Portal  of  S.  Giusto  in  Lucca.     (O. 

Mothes,  as  above.)  .  .  .325 
194-196.  Plan,  Longitudinal  Section, 
and  View  of  the  Southern  Side 
of  the  Cathedral  of  Pisa.  (M. 
G.  Rohault  de  Fleury,  "  Les 
Monuments  de  Pise  au  Moyen- 
Age."  Paris,  1866.)  .  326-328 

197.  Plan  and  Section  of  S.  Giovanni 

degli  Eremiti  in  Palermo.  (O. 
Mothes,  as  above.)  . 

198,  199.  Systems  of  the  Exterior  and 

Interior  of  the  Cathedral  of  Mon- 
reale.  (C.  Boito,  as  above.) 

200.  S.  Maria  del  Gradillo  in  Ravello. 

(O.  Mothes,  as  above.) 

201.  Plan  and  Section  of  the  Chapel  of 

St.  Thomas   at  Molleges.     (H. 


PACK       FIUUUK 


314 


315     > 


318 


319 


32O 


332 


334 


Revoil,  "  Architecture  Romane 
du  Midi  de  la  France."  Paris, 
1873-) 337 

202.  Systems  of  St.  Gabriel  near  Taras- 

con,  St.  Pierre -de-Reddes,  and 
St.  Martin  -  de  -  Londres.  (The 
same.) 338 

203.  Exterior  View  and  Section  of  the 

Apse  of  St.  Jean-de-Moustier. 
(The  same.)  ....  339 

204.  Portal  of  St.  Trophmie  at  Aries. 

(From  a  Photograph.)        .         .   340 

205.  206.  Sections   of  St.  Guillem-du- 

Desert,  St.  Honorat,  upon  the 
Island  of  Le'rins,  and  the  Con- 
vent Church  of  Vaison.  (H. 
Revoil,  as  above)  .  .  341, 342 
207,  208.  Plan  of  St.  Guillem-du-Desert, 
and  of  the  Convent  Church  of 
Vaison.  (The  same.)  .  .  344 

209.  Cloister  of  the  Convent  of  Vaison. 

(The  same.)      ....  346 

210,  211.   Section,  System,  and  Plan  of 

Notre-Dame  in  Clermont.  (J. 
Gailhabaud,  as  above.)  .  347,  348 

212.  Plan  of  the  Abbey  Church  of  Cluny. 

(W.  Luebke,  "  Geschichte  der 
Architektur."  Sixth  Edition. 
Leipzig,  1885.)  .  .  .  352 

213.  System   of  Vezelay.     (M.  Viollet- 

le-Duc, "  Dictionnaire  Raisonne 
de  1'Architec'ture  Franchise." 
Paris,  1858,  sv.)  .  .  .  353 

214.  Interior  of  the  Church  of  St.  John 

in  Grandson.  ( R.  Rahn,  as 
above.)  .  .  .  .  -355 

215.  Plan,    Longitudinal    Section,    and 

View  of  St.  Front  in  Perigueux. 

(J.  Gailhabaud,  as  above.)          .  357 

216.  Fafade  of  the   Cathedral  of  An- 

gouleme.    (From  a  Photograph.)  359 

217.  Norman    Capitals.      (V.  Ruprich- 

Robert,  "  L'Architecture     Nor- 
mandie  au  XI.  et  XIII.  Siecles 
en    Normandie     et    en    Angle- 
terre."     Paris,  1884,  sv.)  .         .  361 
333]2i8,  219.   Systems   of  the  Churches  of 
Ecrainville  and   St.  Germain  at 
Pont-Audemer.     (The  same. )    .   362 
220-222.   Systems   of  the   Churches   of 
Jumieges,  Mont  -  Saint  -  Michel, 


XIV 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


and  St.  Georges  at  Boscherville. 
(The  same.)      ....  364 
223,  224.   Systems   of  Ste.  Trinite   and 

St.  Etienne  in  Caen.  (The  same.)  365 

225.  Plan  and  System  of  S.  Adrian  in 

Tufion.  ("  Monumentos  Arqui- 
tectonicos  de  Espana. "  Ma- 
drid, 1859-1884.)  .  .  .  369 

226.  Plan  and  Interior  of  S.  Cristina  in 

Lena.    (The  same.)  .         .         .   370 

227.  228.  Fa9ade,  Longitudinal  Section, 

and  Plan  of  S.  Maria  of  Naran- 
co,  (The  same.)  .  .371, 372 

229.  Plan  and  System  of  S.  Miguel  de 

Escalada.     (The  same.)    .         .   373 

230.  Plan  and  System  of  S.  Millan  at 

Segovia.     (The  same.)      .         .  375 

231.  Plan  and  System  of  S.  Isidore  in 

Leon.  (G.  E.  Street,  "Some 
Account  of  Gothic  Architecture 
in  Spain."  London,  1865.)  .  376 

232.  Plan  and   System  of  Santiago   of 

Compostella.     (The  same.)        .  377 

233.  234.  View  of  Tower  and  Details  of 

Columns  of  Earls  Barton.  (J. 
Britton,"  The  Architectural  An- 
tiquities of  Great  Britain. "  Lon- 
don, 1835.)  .  .  .  379,380 
235.  Interior  of  the  Chapel  of  St.  John 
in  the  Tower  of  London. 
("  Sketches  of  the  Tower  of 
London."  London,  without 
date.) 381 


236.  System  of  the  Nave  of  Steyning 

Church.     (Britton,  as  above.)    .   382 

237.  Plan  of  the  Cathedral  of  Durham. 

(W.  Luebke  and  J.  Caspar,  "At- 
las zu  F.  Kugler's  Kunstge- 
schichte."  Stuttgart,  1858.)  .  383 

238.  System  of  the  Exterior  of  the  Cathe- 

dral of  Durham.  (C.  Schnaase, 
"  Geschichte  der  bildenden 
Kuenste  im  Mittelalter."  Sec- 
ond Edition.  Duesseldorf,i87i.)  384 

239.  System  of  the  Cathedral  of  Peter- 

borough. (J.  Britton,  "  Cathe- 
dral Antiquities  of  Great  Brit- 
ain." London,  1836.)  .  .  386 

240.  System  of  the  Abbey  Church   of 

Waltham.    (V.  Ruprich-Robert, 

as  above.)         ....  386 

241.  Section  of  St.  Sepulchre  at  Cam- 

bridge.    (The  same.)        .         .   387 

242.  Plan  and  View  of  the  Church  of 

Urnes.  (J.  C.  C.  Dahl,"  Denk- 
maeler  der  Holzbaukunst  in  den 
inneren  Landschaften  Norwe- 
gens."  Dresden,  1837.)  .  .  392 

243.  Plan  and  View  of  the  Church  of 

Borgund.     (The  same.)    .         .   393 

244.  Old  Stone   Mill,  Newport,  Rhode 

Island.  (A. Von  Minutoli,"  Der 
Dom  zu  Drontheim  und  die 
mittelalterlich  christliche  Bau- 
kunst  der  skandinavischen  Nor- 
mannen."  Berlin,  1853.) .  .  395 


PAINTING  OP  THE  EOMANIO  EPOCH. 


245.  Fragment  of  a  Mosaic  Pavement  in 

the  Crypt  of  St.  Gereon  in  Co- 
logne. (F.  Bock,  as  above.)  .  397 

246.  The  Awakening  of  Lazarus.    Wall 

Painting  at  Oberzell.  (F.  X. 
Kraus,  "  Die  Wandgemaelde  in 
der  S.  Georgskirche  zu  Oberzell." 
Freiburg,  1884.)  .  .  .  401 

247.  The  Last  Judgment.     Wall  Paint- 

ing at  Oberzell.     (The  same.)  .  402 

248.  Painting  of  the  Apse  of  the  Low- 

er Church  of  Schwarzrheindorf. 
(E.  Aus'  M.  Weerth,  "  Kunst- 
denkmaeler  des  christlichen 
Mittelalters  in  den  Rheinland- 
en."  Leipzig,  1857,  seq.)  .  403 

249.  Adam  and  Eve.    Painting  upon  the 

Ceiling  of  St.  Michael  in  Hildes- 


heim.  (J.  M.  Kratz, "  Decken- 
gemaelde  in  der  S.  Michaels- 
kirche  zu  Hildesheim."  1856.)  405 

250.  The  Virgin.     Antependium  of  St. 

Walpurgis  in  Soest,  now  in  the 
Museum  in  Muenster.  (Cl.  von 
Heereman  von  Zuydewyk,"Die 
aelteste  Tafelmalerei  Westfa- 
lens."  Muenster,  1882.)  .  .  407 

251.  Altar-piece  from  the  Wiesenkirche 

in  Soest,  now  in  the  Museum  of 
Berlin.  (The  same.)  .  .  408 

252.  Window  of  Stained  Glass  in  the 

Cathedral  of  Augsburg.  (Th. 
Herberger, "  Die  aeltesten  Glas- 
gemaelde  im  Dom  zu  Augsburg." 
Augsburg,  1860.)  .  .  .  409 

253.  Glass    Painting   from    the   Middle 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


XV 


Window  of  the  Choir  of  the 
Church  of  St.  Maternianus, 
Buecken.  (C.  W.  Hase,  \V. 
Stock,  as  above.)  .  .  .  410 

254.  Woven  Dorsel  from  Quedlinburg. 

( "  Zeitschrift  fur  bildende 
Kunst."  Leipzig,  1882.) .  .  411 

255.  The  Healing  of  the  Blind.     Min- 

iature of  the  Codex  Egberti, 
Treves.  (F.  X.  Kraus,  "  Die 
Miniaturen  des  Codex  Egberti 
in  der  Stadtbibliothek  zu  Trier." 
Freiburg,  1884.)  .  .  .  414 

256.  The  Healing  of  Cripples  and  Lep- 

ers. From  the  Codex  of  Echter- 
nach  in  Gotha.  (K.  Lamprecht, 
"  Der  Bilderschmuck  des  Codex 
Egberti  zu  Trier  und  des  Co- 
dex Epternacensis  zu  Gotha." 
Bonner  Jahrb.  LXX.)  .  .  415 

257.  Dedicatory  Illustration  of  the  Mis- 

sal of  Henry  II.  Library  of 
Munich.  (E.  Foerster.  as  above.)  416 

258.  The  Last  Supper.      Pen-drawing 

from  the  Antiphonarium  of  St. 
Gall.  (R.  Rahn,  as  above.)  .  420 

259.  Miniature  from  .the  Hortus  Delici- 

arum  of  Herrad  von  Landsperg. 
(Chr.  H.  Engelhardt,  "  Herrad 
von  Landsperg."  Stuttgart,  1818.)  421 

260.  The  Mothers  of  Bethlehem.    From 

Werinher's  "  Liet  von  der  Ma- 
get,  "in  the  Library  of  Berlin. 
(F.  Kugler,  "  Die  Werinhero, 
Saeculi  XII.  Monacho  Tegern- 
seensi."  Berlin,  1831.)  .  .  422 


261.  Temptation  of  St.  Anthony.    Wall 

Painting  in  S.  Sepolcro,  Barletta. 
(D.  Salazaro, "  Studi  sui  Monu- 
menti  della  Italia  Meridionale 
dal  IV.  Al  XIII.  Secolo."  Nap. 
1871-1880.)  .  .  .  .425 

262.  Entrance  of  Christ  into  Jerusalem. 

Mosaic  in  the  Capella  Palatina, 
Palermo.  (The  same.)  .  .  427 

263.  Crucifix  in  the  Chapter -house  of 

the  Cathedral  of  Pistoja.    (From 

a  Photograph. ) .         .         .         .  429 

264.  Mosaic  Pavement  in  Cruas,  South- 

ern France.  (H.  Revoil,  as 
above.)  .....  431 

265.  Wall  Painting  from  the  Chapter- 

house of  St.  Trophime  in  Aries. 
(The  same.) 432 

266.  St.  Benedict  giving  the  Rules  of  his 

Order  to  the  Brothers.  Minia- 
ture from  a  Codex  of  Southern 
France,  now  in  the  British  Mu- 
seum. (E.  A.  Bond  and  E.  M. 
Thompson,"  The  Palaeographi- 
cal  Society."  Vol.  III.  Lon- 
don, 1873-1883.)  .  .  .435 

267.  The  Council  of  Toledo.     Minia- 

ture from  the  Codex  Vigilanus 
in  the  Escurial.  (From  a  Photo- 
graph.) ...  .436 

268.  King  Edgar  between  the  Virgin 

and  St.  Peter.  Miniature  from 
the  Codex  of  Edgar,  in  the  Brit- 
ish Museum.  (E.  A.  Bond  and 
E.  M.  Thompson,  as  above.)  .  438 


SCULPTURE  OP  THE  EOMANIC  EPOCH. 


269.  Sculptured   Portal   of  Vezelay    in 

Burgundy.  (From  a  Photo- 
graph.)   440 

270.  Relief   in   the    Minster  of   Basle. 

(W.  Luebke,  "  Geschichte  der 
Plastik."  Third  Edition.  Leip- 
zig, 1880.)  ....  442 

271.  Carved  Support  from  the  Crypt  of 

the  Cathedral  of  Freising.  (J. 
Sighart,  "  Geschichte  der  bil- 
denden  Kuenste  im  Koenigreich 
Bayern."  Munchen,  1862.)  .  444 

272.  The  Pulpit  of  Wechselburg.   (From 

a  Photograph.)          .         .         .  445 

273.  Carving  of  Wood  from  St.  Emmer- 


amnus,  Ratisbon.  (J.  Sighart,  as 
above.)  .....  448 

274.  Adoration   of   the    Magi.      Relief 

upon  the  Bronze  Gates  of  Hildes- 
heim.  (E.  Foerster,  as  above.)  450 

275.  Part  of  one  of  the  Bronze  Doors 

of  the  Cathedral  of  Augsburg. 
(From  a  Photograph.)  .  .451 

276.  Tomb  of  the   Pretender  Rudolph 

of  Suabia,  in  the  Cathedral  of 
Merseburg.  (W.  Luebke,"  Ge- 
schichte der  Plastik."  Third 
Edition.  Leipzig,  1880.)  .  .  452 

277.  Antependium   of   Gold    from    the 

Minster    of   Basle,  now  in   the 


XVI 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Musee  Cluny  at  Paris.  (W. 
Wackernagel,  "  Die  goldene  Al- 
tartafel  von  Basel."  Basel,  1857.)  455 

278.  Ambo  in  the  Choir  of  the  Minster 

of  Aix-la-Chapelle.  (E.  Aus'm 
Weerth, "  Kunstdenkmaeler  des 
Mittelalters  in  den  Rheinland- 
en."  Leipzig,  1857,  seq.) .  .  456 

279.  Shrine  of  Charlemagne  in  the  Min- 

ster of  Aix-la-Chapelle.  (The 
same.) 457 

280.  Portable   Altar   in  the   Collegiate 

Church  of  Melk.  ("Atlas  kirch- 
licher  Denkmaeler  des  Mittelal- 
ters im  oesterreichischen  Kaiser- 
staate,  Herausgegeben  von  der 
k.k.  Centralcommission."  Wien, 
1872.) 459 

281.  Altar  Candlestick  at  Klosterau-on- 

the-Inn.     (J.  Sighart,  as  above.)  460 

282.  Aquiminalia  of  Bronze.     ("Atlas 

kirchlicher  Denkmaeler,''  as 
above.)  .....  461 

283.  Cover  of  a  Codex  of  the  Abbess 

Theophanu,  A.  D.  1039-1054,  in 
the  Treasury  of  the  Collegiate 
Church  of  Essen.  (W.  Luebke, 
"  Vorschule  zum  Studium  der 
kirchlichen  Kunst."  Leipzig, 
1866.)  .  .  .  .  .  463 

284.  Pulpit  in  the  Church   of  St.  Mi- 

chael, Groppoli.  (From  a  Photo- 
graph.) .....  466 


285.  Sculptured  Frieze  of  Gruamons  and 

Adeodatus  above  the  Portal  of 
S.  Andrea  in  Pistoja.  (From  a 
Photograph.)  ....  467 

286.  Relief  from  the  Pieve  of  Ponte  Allo 

Spino.  (W.  Luebke, "Geschichte 
der  Plastik."  Third  Edition. 
Leipzig,  1880.)  .  .  .  468 

287.  288.   Busts,  known  as  that  of  Pietro 

delle  Vigne  and  that  of  Sigel 
Gaita  Rufolo,  in  the  Museum  of 
Capua  and  in  the  Cathedral  of 
Ravello.  (D.  Salazaro,  as  above.)  469 

289.  Part  of  a  Bronze  Door  of  the  Ca- 

thedral of  Pisa.     (W.  Luebke, 

as  above.)          .    •     .         .         .  471 

290.  The    Daughter   of    Herodias    de- 

mands the  Head  of  John  the 
Baptist.  Relief  upon  a  Capital 
of  St.  Sernin,  now  in  the  Muse- 
um of  Toulouse.  (M.  Viollet- 
le-Duc,  as  above.)  .  .  .  474 

291.  Tympanon  of  the  Porte  Saint-Ursin 

at  Bourges.  (M.  De  Caumont, 
"  Abecedaire  ou  Rudiment 
d'Archeologie."  Paris,  Caen, 
Rouen,  1851.)  ....  476 

292.  293.   Sculptures  from  the  Portal  of 

Notre- Dame  in  Corbeil,  now  in 
St.  Denis.  Head  of  a  King, 
said  to  be  Clovis,  and  Head  of 
a  Queen,  said  to  be  Clotilde. 
(M.  Viollet-le-Duc,  as  above.)  .  478 


GOTHIC  ARGHITEOTUKE  IN  FRANCE. 


294.  View  of  the  Cathedral  of  Bourges. 

(From  a  Photograph.)        .         .  479 

295,  296.  Systems  of  the  Cathedral  of 

Autun  and  the  Portico  of  the 
Abbey  Church  of  Vezelay.  (M. 
Viollet-le-Duc.)  .  .  .484 

297-299.  Plans  of  the  Cathedrals  of 
Noyon,  Paris,  and  Sens.  (The 
same.) 488 

300,  301.  Systems  of  the  Cathedrals  of 

Noyon  and  Paris.  (The  same.)  491 

302-304.  Towers  of  St.  Germain  at  Aux- 
erre,  the  Church  of  the  Holy 
Trinity  at  Vendome,  and  the 
Cathedral  of  Chartres.  (The 
same.)  .....  495 

305.  Section  of  the  Sainte  Chapelle  at 

Paris.  (The  same.) .  .  .  497 


306.  Section  of  the  Gothic  Part  of  the  Ca- 

thedral of  Poitiers.    (The  same.)  501 

307.  Plan   of   the    Cathedral   of   Alby. 

(The  same.)      ....   502 
308-310.   Plans   of    the    Cathedrals    of 
Chartres,  Rheims,  and  Amiens. 
(The  same.)      ....   503 
311-313.   Capitals  from  the  beginning  of 
the  Thirteenth  to  the  middle  of 
the  Fourteenth  Century.     (The 
same.)       .....   505 
314-316.   Systems  of  the  Cathedrals  of 
Bourges   and   Amiens,  and  the 
Nave  of  the  Abbey  Church  of 
St.  Denis.     (The  same.)    .         .   507 

317.  System  of  Buttresses  of  the  Nave 

of  St.  Denis.     (The  same.)         .   510 

318.  Facade  of  the  Cathedral  of  Rheims. 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


XV11 


(W.   Luebke,  "  Geschichte    der 
Architektur."      Sixth    Edition. 

1884.) 511 

319,  320.  Systems  of  the  Cathedrals  of 
Seez  and  St.  Ouen  at  Rouen. 
(M.Viollet-le-Duc,  as  above.)  .  514 


FIGURE  PAGK 

321.  Interior   of    St.  Ouen   at    Rouen. 

(From  a  Photograph.)         .         .515 

322.  The  Palace  of  the  Louvre  in  the 

Time  of  Charles  V.  (According 
to  the  Restoration  of  Viollet-le- 
Duc,  as  above.)  .  .  .  518 


THE  EXTENSION  OP  GOTHIC  ARCHITEOTUEE. 


323.  View  of  the  Cathedral  of  Glouces- 

ter. (J.  Britton,"  Cathedral  An- 
tiquities." London,  1836.)  .  520 

324,  325.  Plans  of  the  Cathedrals  of  Can- 

terbury  and    Salisbury.      (The 
same.)       ....    522,  523 
326,  327.   Systems  of  the  Cathedrals  of 
Canterbury  and  Salisbury.   (The 
same.) 525 

328.  Western  Fa9ade  of  the  Cathedral 

of  Salisbury.     (The  same.)        .  527 

329,  330.  Systems  of  the  Cathedrals  of 

Lichfield  and  Ely.    (The  same.)  529 
331,  332.   Systems  of  the  Cathedrals  of 
Winchester      and      Gloucester. 
(The  same.)      ....  532 
333,  334.   Plan  and  System  of  the  Ca- 
thedral of  Bamberg.     (E.  Foer- 
ster,  as  above.) ....  537 

335.  System  of  the  Collegiate  Church  of 

Fritzlar.  (L.  Hoffmann  and  H. 
von  Dehn  -  Rotfelser,  "  Mittel- 
alterliche  BaudenkmaelerinCur- 
hessen."  Kassel,  1866.)  .  .  538 

336.  System  of  the  Cathedral  of  Naum- 

burg.     (L.  Puttrich,  as  above.) .  538 

337.  338-  Systems  of  the  Cathedrals  of 

Osnabrueck  and  Muenster.  (W. 
Luebke,  "Die  mittelalterliche 
kunst  in  Westfalen."  Leipzig, 
1833.) 539 

339.  Plan  of  the  Church  of  the  Virgin 

on  the  Harlungerberge  near 
Brandenburg.  (F.  Adler,"  Mit- 
telalterliche Backsteinbauwerke 
des  preussischen  Staates."  Ber- 
lin, 1862,  etc.)  .  .  .  .540 

340.  Plan  of  the  Choir  of  the  Church  of 

the  Cistercians  at  Ebrach,  Fran- 
conia.  (H.  Otte,  "Geschichte 
der  romanischen  Baukunst  in 
Deutschland."  Leipzig,  1874.)  542 

341.  Plan  of  the  Cathedral  of  Magde- 

burg.     (Clemens,  "  Mellin  und 
A 


Rosenthal,  der  Dom  zu  Magde- 
burg." 1831-1838.)  .  .  543 

342.  System  of  the  Church  of  St.  George 

at  Limburg-on-the-Lahn.  (G. 
Moller,  "  Denkmaeler  der 
deutschen  Baukunst."  Frank- 
furt und  Darmstadt.  1820.)  .  544 

343,  344.  Plan  and  System  of  the  Church 

of  Our  Lady  at  Treves.  (W. 
Chr.  Schmidt,  as  above.)  .  .  545 

345,  346.  System  and  View  of  the  Min- 
ster of  Freiburg.  (G.  Moller,  as 
above,  and  H.  Otte,"  Handbuch 
der  christlichen  Kunstarchaeo- 
logie,"etc.)  .  .  .  546,  547 

347,  348.  Plan  and  System  of  the  Ca- 
thedral of  Cologne.  (S.  Boisse- 
ree, "  Geschichte  und  Beschrei- 
bung  des  Domes  von  Koeln." 
Second  Edition.  Muenchen, 
1842.) 549 

349.  Section  of  the  Cathedral  of  Halber- 

stadt.  (Lucanus, "  Der  Dom  zu 
Halberstadt.").  .  .  .550 

350.  System  of  the  Church  of  St.  Cath- 

erine at  Oppenheim.  (F.  H. 
Mueller, "Die  Katharinenkirche 
zu  Oppenheim."  Frankfurt, 

1853.) 551 

351.  System  of  the  Cathedral  of  Ratis- 

bon.     (E.  Foerster,  as  above.)  .   551 

352.  Section  of  the  Church  of  St.  Elisa- 

beth at  Marburg.     (G.  Moller, 

as  above.)         ....   555 

353.  System  of  the  Church  of  St.  Elisa- 

beth at  Marburg.     (The  same.)  557 

354.  System  of  the  Wiesenkirche  at  So- 

est.  (W.  Luebke,  "  Die  mittel- 
alterliche kunst  in  Westfalen." 
Leipzig,  1853.).  .  .  .557 

355.  System  of  the  Church  of  St.  George 

at  Noerdlingen.  (C.Th.  Pohligin 
Luetzow's  "  Zeitschrift  fur  bil- 
dende  Kunst."  Leipzig,  1882.)  557 


XV111 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


356.  View  of  the  Church  of  the  Virgin 

at  Prenzlau  from  the  East.  (G. 
Kallenback,  "  Chronologic  der 
deutsch  mittelalterlichen  Bau- 
kunst."  Atlas.  Muenchen,i84g.)  559 

357.  Column  of  the  Herrenhaus  at  Maul- 

bronn.  (E.  Paulus, "  Die  Cister- 
zienserabtei  Maulbronn."  Sec- 
ond Edition.  Stuttgart,  1882.)  560 

358.  Column  of  the  Cloister  of  the  Ca- 

thedral at  Eichstaedt.  (J.  Sig- 
hart,  as  above.)  .  .  .  560 

359.  South-eastern  Corner  of  the  Clois- 

ter of  the  Cistercian  Convent 
of  Maulbronn.  (E.  Paulus,  as 
above.) 561 

360.  361.   Plan  and  System  of  S.  Andrea 

at  Vercelli.  (F.  Osten,  "  Die 
Bauwerke  der  Lombardei  vom 
7-14  Jahrhundert."  Darmstadt, 
without  date.)  ....  566 

362,  363.  Plan  and  System  of  S.  Fran- 
cesco at  Assisi.  (J.  Gailhabaud, 
as  above.)  ....  568 

364,  365.  Plan  and  System  of  S.  Anas- 
tasia  at  Verona.  (A.  Essenwein, 
in  den  "  Mittheilungen  derk.  k. 
Centralcommission."  V.  Wien, 
1860.) 569 


366,  367.  Plan  and  System  of  the  Ca- 
thedral of  Florence.  (J.  Gailha- 
baud, as  above.)  .  .  .  571 

368.  Fa$ade  of  the  Cathedral  of  Orvieto. 

(W.  Luebke,  "  Geschichte  der 
Architektur."  Fifth  Edition. 
Leipzig,  1875.)  •  •  -575 

369,  370.   Systems  of  the  Cathedrals  of 

Lucca  and  Bologna.  (W.  Lueb- 
ke, in  den  "  Mittheilungen  der 
k.  k.  Centralcommission."  V. 
Wien,  1860.)  ....  577 

371.  Street  View   in    Siena.     (Rohault 

de  Fleury, "  La  Toscan  au  Moy- 
en-Age."  Paris,  1873.)  .  .  581 

372.  Plan  of  S.  Vicente  at  Avila.     (G. 

E.  Street,  "  Some  Account  of 
Gothic  Architecture  in  Spain." 
London,  1865.)  .  .  .  583 

373.  View  of  the  Choir  of  the  Cathedral 

of  Toledo.     (The  same.)  .         .   584 

374.  Fa£ade  of  S.  Pablo  in  Valladolid. 

(From  a  Photograph.)        .          .   587 

375.  Plan  of  the  Cathedral  of  Tournay. 

(W.  Luebke,  "Geschichte  der 
Architektur."  Sixth  Edition. 
Leipzig,  1885.)  .  .  .  589 

376.  Plan  of  the  Cathedral  of  Antwerp. 

(The  same.)      ....   590 


GOTHIC  SCULPTURE. 


377- 


594 


597 


Monuments  in  the  Choir  of  the 
Princes,  Church  of  St.  Elisabeth, 
Marburg.  (H.  Otte,  "  Archseo- 
logie  des  Mittelalters."  Fifth 
Edition.  Leipzig,  1883.) . 

378.  Statue  of  Christ,  from  the  Cathe- 

dral of  Amiens.  (M.  Viollet-le- 
Duc,  as  above.) 

379,  380.   Madonnas  from  the  Cathedral 

of  Amiens,  dating  from  the  be- 
ginning and  from  the  end  of  the 
Thirteenth  Century.  (The  same.)  600 

381.  Statues  of  Prophets  from  the  Fount- 

ain of  Moses  in  the  Carthusian 
Convent  of  Dijon.  (From  Pho- 
tographs.) .... 

382,  383.   Monuments  of  Bishop  Brid- 

port  and  William  Longspee  in 
the  Cathedral  of  Salisbury.  (J. 
Britton,  "Cathedral  Antiqui- 
ties." London,  1836.) 


605 


608 


384.   The  Death  of  the  Virgin.     Tym- 


panon  Relief  from  the  Cathedral 
of  Strasburg.  ( W.  Luebke, ' '  Ge- 
schichte der  Plastik."  Third 
Edition.  Leipzig,  1880.) .  .  614 

385.  Figure  of  a  Prophet  from  the  Church 

of  Our  Lady,  Nuremberg.  (C. 
Schnaase,  "  Geschichte  der  Bil- 
denden  Kuenste  im  Mittelalter." 
Second  Edition.  Duesseldorf, 
1869,  seq.)  .... 

386.  Funeral  Monument  of  Queen  Uta 

in  the  Church  of  St.  Emmeram- 
nus  at  Ratisbon.  (E.  Foerster, 
as  above.)  .... 

387.  Engraved  Brass  from  the  Tomb  of 

the  Priest  Gerard  von  Lynden  at 
Nossendorf,  near  Demmin.  (W. 
Luebke, "  Vorschule  zum  Studi- 
um  der  kirchlichen  Kunst  des 
deutschen  Mittelalters."  Fifth 
Edition.  Leipzig,  1866.) . 

388.  Monument  of  the  Archbishop  Con- 


616 


617 


618 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


XIX 


rad  II.  von  Weinsperg  in  the 
Cathedral  of  Mayence.  (C. 
Schnaase,  as  above.).  .  .  619 

389.  Madonna  from  Blutenburg,  now  in 

the  National  Museum  of  Mu- 
nich. (W.  Luebke, "  Geschichte 
der  Plastik."  Third  Edition. 
Leipzig,  1880.)  .  .  .  625 

390.  Part  of  the  Monument  of  Emperor 

Louis  the  Bavarian  in  the  Church 
of  Our  Lady,  Munich.  (The 
same.)  .....  628 

391.  Baptismal  Font  in  the  City  Church 

of  Wittenberg,  by  HermannVisch- 
er.  (J.  G.  Schadow,  "  Witten- 
bergs  Denkmaeler  der  Bildnerei, 
Baukunst  und  Malerei. "  Ber- 
lin, 1825.)  ....  630 

392.  Tomb  of  Archbishop  Ernst  in  the 

Cathedral  of  Magdeburg,  by 
Peter  Vischer.  (C.  G.  Cantian, 
' '  Ehernes  Grabmal  des  Erz- 


393- 


394- 


395- 


bischof  Ernst  von  Magdeburg." 
1822.) 631 

Relief  upon  the  Pulpit  of  Niccolo 
Pisano  in  the  Baptistery  of  Pisa. 
(From  a  Photograph.) 

Relief  upon  the  Pulpit  of  Giovanni 
Pisano  in  S.  Andrea  of  Pistoja. 
(From  a  Photograph.) 

Madonna  della  Cintola,  by  Giovan- 
ni Pisano,  in  the  Cathedral  of 
Prato.  (W.  Luebke,"  Geschichte 
der  Plastik."  Third  Edition. 
Leipzig,  1880.)  , 
396.  Agriculture.  Relief  upon  the  Cam- 
panile of  Florence.  (From  a 
Photograph.)  ....  640 

Funeral  Monument  of  King  Juan 
II.  and  his  Wife  in  the  Carthu- 
sian Convent  of  Miraflores.  (J.  B. 
Waring,  "Architectural,  Sculpt- 
ural, and  Picturesque  Studies  in 
Burgos."  London,  1852.) 


634 


636 


637 


397- 


643 


PAINTING  OP  THE  GOTHIC  EPOCH. 


398.  Cologne  Triptych,  dating  from  the 

close  of  the  Fourteenth  Century. 
Museum  of  Cologne.     (From  a 
•     Photograph.)     ....   645 

399.  Part  of  one  of  the  Windows  of  St. 

Denis,  Paris.  (J.  Labarte,  as 
above.)  .....  650 

400.  Scene  from  the  Story  of  Joseph. 

Miniature  from  the  Psalter  of 
St.  Louis.  (A.  Lecoy  de  la 
Marche, "  Les  Manuscripts  et  la 
Miniature.''  Paris,  without  date.)  653 

401.  Miniature  Portrait   of  Louis   IX. 

From  a  Document  referable  to 
about  A.  D.  1320.  National 
Archives,  Paris.  (The  same.)  .  654 

402.  Miniature  Portrait  of  King  Charles 

V.  From  a  Document  dated 
A.  D.  1379.  National  Archives, 
Paris.  (The  same.)  .  .  .  655 

403.  St.  Martin  and  the  Beggar.    Minia- 

ture by  J.  Fouquet.  Collection 
of  Feuillet  de  Conches,  Paris. 
(The  same.)  ....  656 

404.  Madonna  Ruccellai,  by  Cimabue, 

in  S.  Maria  Novella  at  Flor- 
ence. (Woltmann  -  Woermann, 
"Geschichte  der  Malerei."  Leip- 
zig, 1879.)  ....  661 


405.  The  Awakening  of  Lazarus.    Wall 

Painting  by  Giotto  in  S.  Maria 
dell'  Arena  at  Padua.  (From  a 
Photograph.)  ....  664 

406.  The  Vow  of  Poverty.    Painting  by 

Giotto  upon  the  Ceiling  of  S. 
Francesco  at  Assisi.  (Woltmann- 
Woermann,  as  above.)  .  .  665 

407.  The  Martyrdom  of  St.  George.  Fres- 

co in  the  Capella  S.  Felice  of 
S.  Antonio  at  Padua.  (Crowe 
und  Cavalcaselle,  "Geschichte 
der  italienischen  Malerei."  Leip- 
zig, 1869-1876.)  .  .  .  669 

408.  Part  of  the  Fresco  of  Simone  di 

Martino  in  the  Town  -  hall  of 
Siena.  (From  a  Photograph. )  .  670 

409.  Madonna,  by  Tommaso  da  Mutina. 

Belvedere,  Vienna.  (From  a 
Photograph.)  ....  674 

410.  Wall  Painting  of  the  Church  of  the 

German  Knights  at  Ramersdorf. 
(E.  Aus'm  Weerth,  as  above.)  .  677 

411.  The  Adoration  of  the  Magi.    Wall 

Painting  in  the  Choir  of  the 
Church  of  S.  Afra,  Schelklingen, 
Wurtemberg.  (From  a  Photo- 
graph, published, with  a  Descrip- 
tion, by  W.  Hummel.)  .  .  679 


XX 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


412.  The  Dance  of  Death.    Scene  from 

the  Mural  Paintings  in  the 
Church  of  the  Virgin,  Berlin. 
(W.  Luebke,  ' '  Der  Todtentanz 
in  der  Marienkirche  zu  Berlin." 
Berlin,  1861.)  .  .  .  .680 

413.  Glass  Painting  from  KSnigsfelden, 

Switzerland.  (R.  Rahn,  "  Ge- 
schichte  der  bildenden  Kuenste 
in  der  Schweiz. "  Zuerich,  1876.)  682 

414.  Early  Cologne  Triptych  in  the  Mu- 

seum of  Cologne.  (From  a  Pho- 
tograph.) .....  683 

415.  The  Presentation  in  the  Temple. 

Panel  Painting  of  the  School  of 
Cologne,  dating  from  the  mid- 
dle of  the  Fourteenth  Century, 
in  the  Museum  of  Cologne. 
(From  a  Photograph.)  .  .  684 

416.  Madonna    in    the    Rose    Garden. 

Panel  Painting  by  Master  Ste- 
phan,  in  the  Museum  of  Co- 
logne. (From  a  Photograph.) .  686 


417.  The  Crucifixion.     Panel  Painting 

by  Wolgemut,  from  the  Church 
of  the  Holy  Trinity  at  Hof. 
(From  a  Photograph.)  .  .  689 

418.  St.  Valentin  before  the  Emperor. 

Panel  Painting  by  B.  Zeitblom, 
in  the  Gallery  of  Augsburg. 
(  Woltmann  -  Woermann,  as 
above.) 692 

419.  The  Annunciation.  Miniature  from 

the  Mariale  of  Archbishop  Ernst 
of  Prague,  in  the  Bohemian  Mu- 
seum of  that  Town.  (Wolt- 
mann-Woermann,  as  above.)  .  696 

420.  421.  The  Virgin  and  St.  John,  from 

the  Altar  of  the  Brothers  Van 
Eyck,  in  S.  Bavo  at  Ghent. 
(Seemann, "  Kunstgeschichtliche 
Bilderbogen.")  .  .  .  702 
422.  Madonna  of  Canon  Van  der  Paele, 
by  Jan  van  Eyck,  in  the  Acade- 
my of  Bruges.  (The  same.)  .  704 


INTRODUCTION. 

As  it  has  been  set  forth  in  the  preceding  volume,  the  art  of  an- 
tiquity was  divided  into  groups,  corresponding  to  the  various  na- 
tionalities :  so  separated  that  a  decided  dependence  of  one  upon  the 
other  was  seldom  brought  about,  and  even  more  rarely  maintained. 
The  ethnographical  character,  language,  religion,  and  culture  of  the 
Mesopotamians  differed  entirely  from  those  of  the  Egyptians,  and 
both  were  altogether  opposed  to  those  of  the  Hellenes.  The  ar- 
chitecture of  each  of  the  groups  thus  formed  was  dissimilar  in  gen- 
eral arrangement,  as  well  as  in  details ;  their  sculpture  and  painting 
were  as  unlike  in  ideals  and  subjects  as  in  types. 

The  fundamental  differences  between  these  groups  were  much 
more  marked  than  were  the  differences  which  resulted  in  any  one  of 
them  through  the  most  long-continued  development.  Recent  dis- 
coveries in  Chaldea  have  shown  that  the  art  of  the  Upper  Tigris, 
during  the  eighth  century  B.  C.,  was  directly  founded  upon  that 
which  had  been  practised  more  than  three  thousand  years  before  in 
Lower  Mesopotamia.  Still  more  uniform  was  the  culture  and  art 
of  the  Egyptians, — from  the  age  of  the  Pyramids,  or  at  least  from 
that  of  Rameses,  to  the  invasion  of  Egypt  by  the  Persians.  Even 
the  Greeks,  —  a  race  infinitely  more  capable  of  development, — re- 
tained the  same  principles  and  forms  in  their  architecture  from  the 
archaic  temples  of  Sicily  and  Ionia  to  the  buildings  of  the  Alexan- 
drian epoch,  and  in  their  sculpture  preserved  the  elements  of  the 
same  national  art  from  the  groups  of  ^gina  to  the  frieze  of  Per- 
gamon, — exhibiting  in  both  branches  a  character  altogether  distinct 
from  that  of  the  Oriental  nations.  Indeed,  the  essential  character- 
istics of  Hellenic  art  remained  unaltered  even  after  Greece  had  lost 
her  political  independence.  For  as  the  Ptolemies,  unable  to  Hel- 
lenize  Egypt,  themselves  became  Egyptian,  and  as  the  Seleucidae, 
at  least  on  the  Euphrates,  furthered  the  civilization  of  Nebuchad- 


xxji  INTRODUCTION. 

nezzar  and  Darius,  rather  than  that  of  Alexander,  so  also  did  Greece 
maintain  its  peculiar  culture  long  after  the  catastrophes  of  Chairo- 
neia  and  Kynoskephalai. 

The  art  of   Greece   deservedly  became  of   greater  importance 
than  did  that  of  the  Oriental  nations,— its  influence  being  extended 
throughout  all  Europe,  and  indeed  never  altogether  lost,  down  to 
the  present  day.     Greek  civilization,  in  its  further  extension,  first 
manifested  its  supremacy  among  the  Romans,  who  had  incorporated 
European  and  Asiatic  Hellas  into  their  vast  empire.     This  was  a 
success  of  Greek  principles  far  surpassing  that  brought  about  by 
the  conquests  of  Alexander,  although  the  spread  of  Hellenism  had 
been  greatly  furthered  by  him  and  his  successors.     For  while  the 
culture  of  the  Greeks  had  no  permanence  in  the  Oriental  provinces 
of  the  Diadochi,  because  of  the  entire  dissimilarity  of  races  and  con- 
ceptions, its  character,  predominantly  European,  found  in  the  East- 
ern and  Western  Empires  all  circumstances  favorable  to  its  expan- 
sion and  to  its  maintenance.     It  was  neither  necessary  nor  desirable 
for  Roman  imperialism,  tolerant  as  it  was,  to  make  such  concessions 
in  religious,  administrative,  and  social  respects  as  had  been  forced 
upon  the  Diadochi.     Thus  it  was  not  during  the  age  of  Alexander, 
but  after  the  establishment  of  the  Roman  power,  that  Hellenism 
became  truly  international. 

Mediaeval  art  was  the  direct  outgrowth  of  this  Roman  Hellenism. 
The  chief  differences  were  in  the  subjects  represented,  these  being 
naturally  in  accordance  with  the  requirements  of  the  early  Christian 
communities ,    in  regard  to  form  and  method  art  remained  classic 
for  many  centuries,  the  decadence  steadily  continuing.     Thus  early 
Christian  art  in  the  western  provinces  of  the  Empire,  and  particu- 
larly in  Italy  and  the  countries  dependent  upon  it,  may  in  all  re- 
spects be  considered  as  a  debasement  of   the  Roman.     The  case 
was  otherwise  in  the  Eastern  Empire,  where  art,  and  especially  ar- 
chitecture, had  attained,  during  the  age  of  Justinian,  a  character  not 
resulting  altogether  from  an  imperfect  reproduction  of  the  Roman 
types.     Byzantine   architecture,  it   is   true,  was   largely  dependent 
upon  the  vaulted,  more  particularly  the  domical,  constructions  of 
the  Romans ;  and  the  mosaics  of  Ravenna  may  even  more  directly 
be  considered  as  forming  a  stage  in  the  decline  of  Roman  painting. 


INTRODUCTION.  xxiii 

Still,  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that,  on  the  whole,  we  have  here  to  deal 
with  a  style  of  much  independence.  Byzantine  art  even  became  in 
a  certain  sense  national,  through  the  readoption  of  Oriental  ele- 
ments which,  since  the  rise  of  Hellenic  culture,  had  had  no  direct 
influence  upon  classical  antiquity.  This  was  in  accordance  with  the 
peculiar  character  of  the  Eastern  Empire, — composed  of  Oriental  as 
well  as  of  Occidental  provinces.  The  methods  of  artistic  expression 
were  thus  in  harmony  with  the  constitution  of  the  State.  To  this 
was  added  the  retention  of  a  very  considerable  technical  ability, 
which  exercised  the  more  influence  upon  the  Western  nations  the 
more  rapidly  the  art  of  Rome  declined.  It  gradually  came  to  be 
recognized  that  good  traditional  methods  were  only  to  be  found  in 
the  Eastern  Empire,  and  after  the  seventh  century  Byzantine  works 
were  justly  regarded  as  the  finest  throughout  Christendom.  Their 
importation  as  well  as  their  imitation  were  alike  extensive.  The 
fame  which  attached  to  the  throne  of  Byzantiom  as  the  only  sur- 
viving representative  of  the  Imperial  power  of  Rome,  was  greatly 
increased  by  the  ability  and  energy  of  Justinian,  and  was  reflected 
upon  the  artistic  industries  of  Byzantiom  and  its  dependencies.  As 
the  dominion  of  the  Eastern  Empire,  based  upon  its  legal  and  eccle- 
siastical organization,  outlasted  the  short-lived  States  founded  by 
the  Germanic  conquerors  of  the  Western  Empire,  so  also  was  the 
supremacy  of  the  Byzantines  maintained  in  artistic  respects. 

Nevertheless,  the  art  of  Byzantiom  was  unable  to  attain  a  posi- 
tion corresponding  to  that  occupied  before  it  by  the  Graeco-Roman 
styles,  and  after  it  by  the  French  Gothic :  the  Eastern  Empire  was 
too  remote  from  the  rapidly  developing  nations  of  Western  Europe. 
The  language  and  ecclesiastical  institutions  of  Byzantiom  were  al- 
together foreign  to  the  conceptions  of  Occidental  races,  especially 
the  Germanic,  who  found  more  points  of  contact  and  sympathy  in 
the  civilization  of  the  Western  than  in  that  of  the  Eastern  Empire. 
The  classic  style  of  Rome  was  in  a  course  of  rapid  decline,  but  its 
civilization  and  its  religion  had  been  the  first  to  influence  the  North- 
ern nations,  and  were,  in  a  certain  sense,  perpetuated,  Latin  becom- 
ing the  language  of  the  Church  and  of  all  higher  culture.  Byzan- 
tine tendencies  affected  only  the  Imperial  court,  and  even  that  but 
superficially.  Moreover,  they  were  received  only  from  secondary 


xxiv  INTRODUCTION. 

sources,  such  as  Ravenna  or  Lower  Italy,  where  they  had  been 
modified  through  the  influence  of  other  elements.  Hence,  in  archi- 
tecture the  basilical  system,  with  classic  Roman  details,  and  in 
painting  the  style  of  the  frescos  of  the  Catacombs,  were  long  re- 
tained. The  change  from  these  was  brought  about  by  rude  and 
barbarous  innovations  and  by  independent,  but  altogether  untrained 
and  uncouth  attempts,  rather  than  by  any  resort  to  Byzantine  meth- 
ods, which  were  held  to  be  both  difficult  and  unsuitable. 

The  greatest  promise  of  future  development  was  given  by  the 
nations  founded  in  the  West  of  Europe  by  Germanic  races  after  the 
migration.  From  the  combination  of  the  vigorous  elements  of  the 
North  with  the  outworn  civilization  of  Christian  Rome  arose  the 
new  system  of  European  States.  The  political  relations  which  form 
the  chief  subject  of  mediaeval  history  had  been  entered  upon  even 
before  the  eighth  century:  they  culminated  under  the  reign  of  Char- 
lemagne, who  conferred  upon  his  Germanic  empire  a  great  and  en- 
during power.  Notwithstanding  this,  the  culture  furthered  by  this 
great  ruler  differed  so  little  from  that  which  had  immediately  pre- 
ceded it,  that  the  accession  of  Charlemagne  marks  the  beginning  of 
no  such  new  period  in  the  history  of  art  as  in  that  of  politics.  In 
the  former  field  the  work  of  Charlemagne  bore  the  character  of 
a  continuation  of  the  antique  traditions,  with  scarcely  a  trace  of  in- 
dependent innovations, — national  peculiarities  not  even  having  been 
considered  desirable.  Aix-la-Chapelle  was  to  become  a  new  Rome ; 
and  when  other  models  than  those  provided  by  the  Italian  capital 
were  chosen,  they  were  derived  only  from  Ravenna,  the  metropolis  of 
the  Western  Empire,  and  perhaps  from  Milan  and  its  vicinity.  The 
Roman  towns  of  the  Rhenish  provinces  which  had  been  spared  by 
the  Germanic  immigrants  were  also  not  without  influence.  This  is 
plainly  evident  in  the  palaces  and  churches  of  the  Emperor,  and  in 
the  contemporary  works  of  sculpture,  as  models  for  which  antique 
statues, — instance  the  equestrian  figure  of  Theodoric  from  Ravenna, 
— bronze  gates,  and  ornamented  parapets  were  brought  from  be- 
yond the  Alps.  The  case  must  have  been  similar  in  painting  the 
mosaics  and  mural  decorations  of  Byzantiom  having  been  of  less  in- 
fluence than  those  of  Rome,  which,  introduced  through  Lombardy, 
seem  to  have  been  directly  imitated  in  all  works  excepting  those 


INTRODUCTION.  XXV 

where  unaccustomed  subjects  required  independent  conceptions  and 
treatment.  Charlemagne  appears  to  have  tolerated,  rather  than  en- 
couraged, the  novel  methods  employed  in  these  instances,  and  he 
can  hardly  have  regarded  with  favor  the  Celtic  style  of  intertwined 
ornaments,  introduced  through  the  illuminated  manuscripts  of  the 
scholars  and  missionaries  of  England  and  Ireland. 

A  far  greater  degree  of  stylistic  independence  than  that  pos- 
sessed by  the  Carolingians  was  developed  by  the  Moslems.  This 
was  not  the  case  at  first,  however.  The  warlike  hordes  led  by 
Omar  and  his  successors  brought,  at  least,  no  monumental  art 
with  them  from  their  native  country,  and  borrowed  most  of  their 
artistic  forms  from  Persia,  India,  and  the  subjugated  provinces  of 
the  Eastern  Empire.  But  in  the  course  of  time  they  were  able  to 
combine  those  various  elements  with  their  own  independent  meth- 
ods of  design,  derived  from  native  textile  industries,  and  thus  to 
form  a  style  of  perfect  unity.  The  rise  of  Arabian  art  resulted  in 
a  contrast  between  Oriental  and  Occidental  civilization,  comparable 
to  the  dualism  which  obtained  during  antiquity.  It  is  not  from  any 
unjust  prejudice  in  favor  of  our  own  culture,  or  from  any  exagger- 
ated conception  of  its  merits,  that  the  art  of  the  Mohammedan  East 
is  regarded  as  less  important  than  that  of  the  West,  and  in  the 
present  volume  is  treated  less  in  detail.  Apart  from  its  almost 
entire  lack  of  works  of  sculpture  and  painting,  its  architecture  is 
destitute  of  that  constructive  logic  which  renders  the  buildings  of 
the  mediaeval  Occident  so  interesting  and  so  instructive.  Moreover, 
the  influence  of  the  Orient  upon  the  development  of  European  art 
was  of  less  moment  than  one  might  be  inclined  to  suppose.  In 
Spain  itself,  where  the  contact  of  the  two  civilizations  was  more 
intimate  and  longer  continued  than  in  any  other  part  of  Europe, 
even  at  the  time  of  the  Crusades,  the  brilliant  art  of  the  Moors  ex- 
ercised but  a  subordinate  influence  upon  that  of  the  Christians. 
In  Sicily,  owing  to  circumstances  which  will  hereafter  be  explained, 
Moslem  elements  were  somewhat  more  extended,  and  yet  not  far 
beyond  the  limits  of  the  island.  The  court  of  Charlemagne,  though 
connected  in  several  ways  with  the  Mohammedan  power,  was,  in 
artistic  respects,  wholly  unaffected  by  it ;  and  German  art,  after  the 
age  of  the  Ottos,  borrowed  from  the  East  no  elements  of  import- 


xxvi  INTRODUCTION. 

ance,  notwithstanding  the  inclination  of  the  Hohenstaufens  tow- 
ards the  culture  of  Sicily.  In  short,  the  assumption  that  the 
Gothic  had  its  root  in  the  architectural  methods  of  the  Moors,  has 
been  proved  erroneous,  and  the  detailed  consideration  of  the  growth 
of  Mohammedan  art  is  hence  of  no  direct  importance  in  elucidat- 
ing the  development  of  that  of  Europe. 

Antique  traditions  were  maintained  in  the  Occident  until  the 
period  of  the  Ottos.     The  artistic  methods  of  the  East  had  contin- 
ued to  decline,  notwithstanding  the  stability  of  the  Byzantine  Em- 
pire, and  had  been  but  little  improved  through  attempts  to  intro- 
duce original  traits,  such  innovations  having  been  too  isolated  and 
too  barbarous  to  exercise  any  important  effect  upon  the  style.     It 
was  not  until  the  middle  of  the  tenth  century  that  the  reproduc- 
tions of  the  older  types  were  given  up  in  favor  of  a  more  inde- 
pendent activity,  and  that  new  forms  gradually  began  to  supplant 
those  which  had  previously  obtained.      This  movement  did  not, 
however,  result  in  a  contemporaneous  and  equal  improvement  of 
all  the  arts.     Painting  and  sculpture  could  not  at  once  be  freed  from 
their  subordination ;  they  were  still  almost  entirely  restricted  to  the 
decoration  of  furniture  and  utensils,  and  of  manuscripts.    Architect- 
ure, on  the  other  hand,  advanced  rapidly.     The  delight  in  creation 
increased  with  the  awakening  independence,  and  with  the  success 
attained  through  experience.      In  some  districts  the  development 
thus  resulting  within  a  single  century  was  greater  than  that  observ- 
able since  the  time  of  Justinian,— that  is  to  say,  for  nearly  a  thou- 
sand years.     From  the  horizontally  ceiled  basilicas  of  the  Ottos  to 
the  vaulted  cathedrals  of  Mayence  and  Speyer,  the  advance  is  so 
constant,  so  rational,  and  so  organic  that,  in  Germany,  at  least,  it  is 
to  be  regarded  as  constituting  in  itself  a  new  style :  excellent  alike 
in  its  clear  plan,  its  constructive  system,  and  in  the  variety  and  ar- 
tistic perfection  of  its  forms. 

In  the  year  1 100,  Germany  was  as  prominent  among  European 
nations  in  artistic  as  in  political  respects.  Its  influence,  however, 
was  not  of  great  extent.  Western  France,  Northern  Italy,  and  some 
districts  of  Eastern  and  Northern  Europe  adopted  the  principles  of 
German  architecture;  but  in  the  main  the  French  and  Italians  fol- 
lowed an  independent  course  of  development.  The  Provence  and 


INTRODUCTION.  Xxvii 

Tuscany  based  their  style  upon  reminiscences  of  the  antique,  while 
the  Iberian  peninsula  and  the  islands  of  Great  Britain  derived  their 
artistic  methods  exclusively  from  France. 

After  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century,  mediaeval  art  found  its 
most  brilliant  and  important  expression  in  the  heart  of  Northern 
France.  The  advance  was  at  first  almost  entirely  limited  to  archi- 
tecture, the  methods  of  which,  after  a  comparatively  short  period  of 
development,  were  adopted  by  the  neighboring  countries.  The  cen- 
tre of  European  culture  was  removed  from  Germany  to  France,  be- 
coming of  a  higher  perfection  and  exercising  a  wider  influence  in 
the  Gothic  than  in  the  Romanic  epoch.  All  the  countries  of  Eu- 
rope, with  the  exception  of  those  dependent  upon  Byzantiom, 
adopted  the  new  style.  In  some  a  certain  independence  resulted 
from  the  combination  of  native  with  the  foreign  methods ;  this  was 
notably  the  case  in  Germany,  where  the  transitional  style  is  to  be 
regarded  as  an  eminently  successful  compromise,  and  where,  more- 
over, the  new  principles  were  carried  to  their  extreme  and  logical 
consequence.  The  Gothic  was  treated  with  the  greatest  freedom 
by  the  Italians,  who  adopted  only  such  of  its  constructive  and  deco- 
rative features  as  could  readily  be  brought  into  harmony  with  their 
existing  architecture.  Each  of  the  Italian  provinces  retained  its  pe- 
culiar characteristics,  the  influence  of  the  French  style  in  the  Papal 
States,  for  instance,  being  scarcely  perceptible. 

The  circumstances  which  affected  architecture  exercised  an  in- 
fluence also  upon  the  other  arts,  but  in  these  latter  the  national 
peculiarities  became  somewhat  more  prominent.  The  sculpture  of 
France,  at  the  beginning  of  the  Gothic,  was  inferior  to  that  of  Sax- 
ony during  the  transitional  period  ;  but  it  continued  to  improve,  in 
connection  with  the  decoration  of  architectural  members,  until  it 
reached  a  perfection  fully  equal  to  that  of  the  French  architecture 
of  the  thirteenth  century.  The  many  statues  and  reliefs  referable 
to  this  stage  of  development  are  far  superior  to  the  similar  works 
of  the  Romanic  epoch,  and  to  the  sculptured  ornamentations  of 
furniture  and  utensils  dependent  upon  the  traditions  of  early 
Christian  and  Byzantine  art.  In  the  Gothic  period  sculpture  again 
attained  to  a  monumental  character,  stone  becoming  the  chief 
material,  in  the  place  of  metal.  The  French  portal  sculptures  of 


xxviii  INTRODUCTION. 

the  thirteenth  century  were  equalled  only  by  the  marble  works  of 

Italy. 

The  rise  of  French  sculpture  was  not  due  alone  to  the  trans- 
ference of  artistic  activity  from  the  hands  of  the  monks  to  those 
of  the  laity,  —  important  as  this  was,  in  sculpture  as  in  architect- 
ure. The  hieratic  limitations  of  monastic  art  were,  indeed,  over- 
come ;  but  this  change  is  not  in  itself  sufficient  to  account  for  the 
appearance  of  that  depth  of  feeling  and  that  classic  beauty  of  form 
which  are  so  remarkable  in  the  sculptures  of  Rheims.  Nor  are 
these  characteristics  wholly  to  be  explained  by  the  removal  of  the 
centre  of  European  civilization  from  Saxony  and  the  Rhenish  prov- 
inces to  the  heart  of  France.  The  cause  of  this  elevation  of  aes- 
thetic ideals  is  rather  to  be  sought  in  the  extension  of  all  culture, 
which,— previously  restricted  to  courts  and  to  clerical  circles,— now 
first  became  general,  and  exercised  a  direct  influence  upon  every 
form  of  artistic  expression.  The  changes  thus  brought  about  in  the 
civilization  of  Europe  were  of  such  far-reaching  importance  that  the 
characteristic  features  of  the  Gothic  style  are  not  wholly  explicable 
by  the  continued  development  of  those  of  the  Romanic.  A  distinct 
line  of  demarcation  is  hence  to  be  drawn  between  these  two  styles, 
notwithstanding  the  appearance  of  transitional  phases, — in  this  as 
in  other  revolutionary  epochs  of  civilization. 

German  sculpture  during  the  early  Gothic  ages  was  but  of  sec- 
ondary importance,— the  Rhenish  provinces  being  in  this  respect 
largely  dependent  upon  France :  Saxony  and  Franconia  upon  the 
schools  established  at  Freiberg  and  Wechselburg  towards  the  close 
of  the  preceding  epoch.  In  a  later  age,  on  the  other  hand,  when 
the  artistic  activity  of  France  had  greatly  declined,  Germany  over- 
came its  archaic  conservatism,  and  at  last  attained  an  independent 
position.  The  predominance  of  the  burgher  element  in  the  free 
cities  of  Germany  elevated  the  conceptions  and  ideals  of  the  mid- 
dle class,  and  transformed  the  cycle  of  ecclesiastical  representations. 
This  national  movement  in  sculpture  corresponded  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  equal-aisled  churches  in  architecture.  Wood-carving 
was  much  cultivated,  influencing  not  only  sculpture  in  stone,  but 
even  painting. 

Italy  made  still  fewer  concessions  to  the  artistic  methods  of 


INTRODUCTION.  XXIX 

France  in  sculpture  than  in  architecture.  Niccolo  Pisano  did  but 
follow  the  example  of  his  predecessors  of  Southern  Italy  in  basing 
his  style  upon  that  of  ancient  Rome.  This  tendency  has  been  re- 
garded as  the  beginning  of  the  Renaissance, — a  view  which  has  led 
to  the  greatest  confusion  in  the  historical  treatment  of  mediaeval 
art.  In  reality,  Niccolo's  recourse  to  antique  models  was  as  little 
related  to  the  Renaissance  as  were  the  studies  of  the  artists  of  Em- 
peror Frederick  II.  It  is  as  erroneous  to  connect  this  movement 
with  that  of  the  Quatrocento  as  it  would  be  to  ascribe  a  similar 
importance  to  Carolingian  art,  to  the  ivory  carvings  of  the  age  of 
Henry  II.,  to  the  works  at  Freiberg  and  Wechselburg,  or  to  the 
noble  Gothic  sculptures  of  Rheims.  It  is  true  that  this  study  of 
ancient  models  led  to  a  distinct  improvement,  and,  in  a  certain 
sense,  to  a  re-birth  of  classic  art.  But  that  individuality  of  the  art- 
ist, which  should  be  regarded  as  the  chief  characteristic  of  the  Re- 
naissance, is  wholly  lacking.  Local  traits  and  the  character  of  the 
age  predominate,  in  the  school  of  Pisa,  over  the  personal  equation 
of  its  chief  exponents.  As  a  sculptor  Niccolo  is  to  be  considered  a 
master  of  the  Romanic  style,  or  of  the  transition  between  the  Ro- 
manic and  Gothic  rather  than  of  the  Renaissance, — and  the  same 
may  be  said  of  his  Saxon  contemporaries,  the  sculptors,  of  Freiberg 
and  Wechselburg.  Giovanni  Pisano,  the  son  of  Niccolo,  appears,  on 
the  other  hand,  as  a  true  representative  of  the  Gothic.  Notwith- 
standing his  almost  entire  freedom  from  the  influence  of  France, 
he  was  inspired  by  the  same  spirit  as  were  the  artists  of  Rheims, — 
the  difference  in  the  results  being  mainly  due  to  his  classic  training. 
This  Gothic  tendency  was  maintained  by  the  successors  of  Giovanni, 
Andrea .  Pisano  and  Giotto,  although  these  latter  again  gravitated 
towards  the  antique.  An  anachronism,  in  point  of  character  as  well 
as  of  time,  is  plainly  felt  in  the  attempt  to  class  Arnolfo  di  Cam- 
bio,  to  whom  the  Gothic  architecture  of  Italy  owes  its  greatest  em- 
inence, with  the  sculptors  of  the  fifteenth  century, — or  to  consider 
Giotto,  the  architect  of  the  Gothic  Campanile  of  Florence  and  the 
greatest  painter  of  mediaeval  Italy,  as  an  artist  of  the  Renaissance, 
on  account  of  the  classic  tendencies  of  his  sculpture. 

The  case  was  similar  with  painting.     In  the  period  of  the  great- 
est development  of  Gothic  architecture,  France  cultivated  chiefly 


XXX  INTRODUCTION. 

two  branches,  illumination  and  painting  upon  glass.  Germany  fol- 
lowed this  example,  attaining  great  perfection  in  stained  glass,  and 
adopting  new  methods  in  miniature  painting.  The  decorative  ten- 
dencies of  French  miniatures  and  their  brilliant  coloring, — of  but 
little  truth  to  nature,  and  evidently  an  imitation  of  the  effect  of 
transparencies, — did  not  obtain  on  the  east  of  the  Rhine.  The  pen 
drawings  of  Germany  followed  that  method  of  illustration  which 
afterwards  led  to  the  all-important  wood-cut  and  copper  engraving. 
In  Brabant  and  Flanders,  on  the  other  hand,  French  miniature 
painting  gradually  resulted  in  the  development  of  panel  painting, — 
the  first  great  works  of  which,  in  the  Netherlands,  are  referable  to 
the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century.  This  art  was  as  little  re- 
lated to  the  Renaissance  as  was  the  sculpture  of  the  Pisan  school. 
The  painting  of  Flanders  and  Brabant  is  to  be  regarded  as  the  per- 
fected outcome  of  mediaeval  conceptions  and  methods  rather  than 
as  the  beginning  of  the  new  period.  It  also  bears  the  stamp  of 
organized  schools  and  of  local  peculiarities, — not  of  the  ability  and 
personality  of  individuals.  Hence  the  attempt  to  determine  the 
artists  of  the  many  unsigned  pictures  of  this  period  can  never  be 
altogether  successful.  Moreover,  in  the  age  of  Jan  van  Eyck  and 
Rogier,  architecture  was  still  purely  Gothic,  and,  indeed,  all  civiliza- 
tion was  mediaeval.  In  the  school  of  Cologne,  as  in  those  of  Schon- 
gauer,  Zeitblom,  and  Wolgemut, — all  of  which  were  in  some  meas- 
ure dependent  upon  the  painting  of  Brabant, — no  higher  degree  of 
emancipation  is  observable  than  in  the  ornamental  types  employed 
by  Gutenburg,  whose  invention  was  destined  to  so  greatly  further 
the  spread  of  the  new  ideas.  The  altar  of  Kaisheim,  painted  by 
the  older  Holbein  early  in  the  sixteenth  century,  is  as  entirely 
Gothic  as  the  Sacrament  -  house  of  Adam  Kraft  in  the  Church  of 
St.  Laurence  at  Nuremberg.  In  short,  the  influence  of  the  Renais- 
sance did  not  make  itself  felt  in  Germany  before  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. Among  its  first  representatives  in  that  country,  only  Hans 
Holbein  the  younger  was  trained  in  the  new  school,  Peter  Vischer 
and  Albert  Durer  having  founded  their  artistic  methods  directly 
upon  those  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

The  pre-eminence  of  Italy,  after  the  first  decades  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  may  be  compared  to  that  of  France  in  the  middle  of  the 


INTRODUCTION.  xxxi 

twelfth ;  it  was,  in  artistic  respects,  more  than  fifty  years  in  advance 
of  the  rest  of  Europe.  Indications  of  this  improvement  are  indeed 
evident  before  the  advent  of  the  Quatrocento,  although  at  the  be- 
ginning of  that  century  the  art  of  Italy  was  still  entirely  Gothic. 
The  greatest  Gothic  painter  of  Italy,  Giotto,  and  the  greatest  sculp- 
tor, Giovanni  Pisano,  were  followed  by  a  generation  of  mediaeval 
artists.  Masolino  and  Fiesole  were  also  representatives  of  the  Mid- 
dle Ages,  the  latter,  especially,  being  truly  Gothic  in  the  conception 
and  form  of  his  work.  Gothic  traditions  were  not  altogether  dis- 
continued until  the  age  of  the  architect  Brunellesco, — of  the  paint- 
ers Masaccio  and  Lippi, — and  of  the  sculptors  Ghiberti,  Donatello, 
and  Robbia. 

The  scope  and  arrangement  of  the  present  volume  have  been 
adapted  to  this  view  of  the  historical  advance  of  Mediaeval  Art.  A 
glance  at  the  Table  of  Contents  will  show  the  logical  sequence 
which  it  has  been  the  endeavor  of  the  author  to  follow.  The  hope 
is  entertained  that  in  this  regard  an  improvement  has  been  made 
upon  earlier  histories  of  art.  If  the  reader  find  the  arrangement  to 
be  simple  and  natural,  the  purpose  of  the  author  will  have  been  at- 
tained :  the  works  of  his  predecessors,  following  other  systems,  have 
seemed  to  him  to  lack  these  qualities.  Should,  however,  this  plan 
be  found  disadvantageous  and  defective,  the  chief  claim  of  the  book 
upon  the  attention  of  scholars  will  be  lost.  The  value  of  such  a 
history  cannot  depend  upon  details.  An  extended  description  of 
the  various  monuments  was  hence,  within  the  limits  of  a  single  vol- 
ume, as  undesirable  as  it  was  impossible.  For  similar  reasons,  a 
citation  of  the  hundreds  of  monographs  could  not  be  attempted. 
Many  of  these  relate  solely  to  works  of  art  to  which,  in  a  general 
history,  but  few  words  can  be  devoted.  In  the  present  case,  there- 
fore, the  value  of  such  references  would  not  justify  the  loss  of  space 
which  they  must  occasion.  It  has  been  the  great  desire  of  the 
author  to  present  a  history  of  artistic  evolution  more  logical  and 
more  consequential  than  those  with  which  he  was  acquainted.  If 
he  has  succeeded  in  this,  he  may  trust  that  the  book  will  prove  of 
value  to  those  readers  whose  desire  it  is  to  obtain  a  general  view 
of  the  artistic  development  of  the  Middle  Ages. 


Fig.  i. — The  Mythrseum  under  S.  Clemente  in  Rome. 

EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND    BYZANTINE 
ARCHITECTURE. 

/'"CHRISTIAN  communities,  in  various  parts  of  the  Roman  Em- 
V— '  pire,  had  attained  a  certain  degree  of  organization  as  early  as 
the  epoch  of  the  three  Flavian  emperors  —  Vespasian,  Titus,  and 
Domitian.  In  like  manner  the  first  activity  in  Christian  art  dates 
back  to  the  time  when  the  prophesied  destruction  of  Jerusalem 
was  fulfilled  :  to  a  period  when  antique  Roman  art  was  still  at  the 
height  of  its  development,  maintaining  a  perfection  which  it  had 
reached  hardly  a  century  previous  —  that  is  to  say,  shortly  before 
the  commencement  of  our  era. 

One  might  be  inclined  to  suppose  that  the  earliest  artistic  pro- 
ductions of  the  Christians,  aside  from  the  difference  of  the  subjects 
represented,  would  have  shared  the  generally  high  standard  of  the 
work  of  the  first  century,  and  would  have  been  distinguished,  above 
the  mass  of  later  creations,  equally  with  the  Pagan  monuments  dat- 
ing from  the  time  of  Hadrian  and  Antoninus.  This,  however,  was 
not  the  case.  Architecture,  chief  of  Roman  arts,  had  fallen  into 
almost  entire  neglect ;  and  there  was  little  furtherance  of  sculpture 
and  painting,  perhaps  because  of  the  Jewish  anathema  still  resting 
upon  graven  images.  The  Christian  religion,  at  first,  rarely  received 

I 


2  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE    ARCHITECTURE. 

its  recruits  from  the  classes  of  the  rich  and  the  aristocratic ;  far  the 
greater  number  came  from  the  obscure  multitudes  of  those  that 
labored  and  were  heavy  laden.  The  funeral  rites  of  these  humble 
people  were  without  ostentation ;  their  simple  monuments  were 
the  work  of  common  artisans  or  of  untrained  hands,  and  could  not 
be  remotely  compared  to  the  imposing  constructions  of  imperial 
Rome,  as  exhibited  in  the  mausoleums  of  the  emperors,  or  even  in 
such  fine  private  tombs  as  those  bordering  the  Appian  Way.  In- 
deed they  were  far  from  wishing  to  imitate  such  examples.  This 
was  not  alone  due  to  the  extreme  poverty  and  the  despised  posi- 
tion of  the  Christians,  who,  for  a  long  time,  were  considered  only 
as  the  lowest  sect  of  the  Jews,  nor  to  their  contempt  for  display; 
they  were  forced  by  repeated  persecutions  to  avoid  all  pretension 
which  might  easily  have  excited  their  enemies  to  destroy  even  the 
monuments  of  the  dead. 

Yet  the  common  opinion,  that  disturbance  of  the  graves  accom- 
panied every  interference  with  the  Christians,  and  was  the  cause  of 
their  peculiar  choice  of  burial-places,  is  not  well  founded.  The  im- 
portant researches  of  the  brothers  De  Rossi  *  have  decided  beyond 
a  doubt  that  the  Christian  cemeteries,  which  often  occupied  sites 
previously  used  for  interment,  though  newly  adapted  to  the  pecul- 
iar requirements  of  the  sect,  were  generally  situated  upon  tracts 
bought  for  this  use  and  officially  surveyed,  thus  of  course  being 
well  known  to  the  temporal  authorities.  This  publicity  brought 
no  danger,  for  the  Roman  law  gave  protection  to  the  dead  without 
distinction  of  person  or  religious  belief.  The  subterranean  cham- 
bers and  passages  could  thus  be  peacefully  and  regularly  developed, 
without  attempt  at  secrecy ;  indeed  the  portals  or  entrances  to  the 
staircases  could  not  well  be  hidden.  But  when  the  Christians,  in 
times  of  fanatical  persecution,  extended  their  burrowings  beyond 
the  boundaries  assigned  to  them,  united  various  groups  of  subter- 
ranean tombs,  or  deviated  from  the  natural  arrangement  of  the 

*  G.  B.  de  Rossi :  Roma  sotterranea  cristiana  descritta  ed  illustrata.  Roma,  1864- 
1867.  The  same,  Bulletino  di  archeologia  cristiana.  Roma,  1863  sq.  Compare  also: 
F.  X.  Kraus,  Roma  sotterranea.  Die  romischen  Katakomben.  ad  Edition.  Freiburg  i. 
B.  1879.— Theoph.  Roller,  Les  Catacombes  de  Rome.  Paris,  1879,  1881.— Viet.  Schultze, 
Die  Katakomben.  Die  altchristlichen  Grabstatten,  ihre  Geschichte  und  ihre  Monumente. 
Leipzig,  1882. 


THE   CATACOMBS.  3 

spaces  so  as  to  produce  within  a  square  area  a  labyrinthic  confu- 
sion of  corridors  and  niches,  or  when  they  covered  with  earth  the 
entrances  from  above  ground,  replacing  them  by  secret  shafts,  these 
alterations  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  original  architectural  plan 
or  with  the  artistic  accessaries,  only  becoming  necessary  in  times 
when  the  violence  of  persecution  trespassed  upon  the  public  regu- 
lations and  set  at  naught  the  protection  afforded  by  the  State  to 
every  place  of  burial.  The  catacombs  have  derived  their  name 
from  the  cemetery  of  S.  Sebastiano,  which  was  called  Ad  Catacum- 
bas  by  a  chronographer  writing  as  early  as  A.  D.  354,  this  appella- 
tion having  been  extended  to  all  subterranean  galleries  used  by  the 
Christians  for  interment.  From  the  earliest  times  it  was  the  cus- 
tom of  the  sect  to  inhume,  not  to  burn,  the  bodies  of  their  dead, 
and  this  custom  was  of  decisive  influence  in  determining  the  ar- 
rangement of  their  sepulchres.  Burial  in  roughly-built  vaults  was, 
it  is  true,  not  entirely  excluded  ;  this  method,  which  was  general  in 
heathen  Rome,  being  originally  followed  by  the  Christians.  But 
their  chambers  for  this  purpose  were  never  built  above  ground. 
The  catacombs  thus  appear,  in  some  measure,  as  a  reminiscence 
of  the  grotto  tombs  prevalent  not  only  in  the  native  country  of 
Christianity,  but  also  among  the  Romans  of  the  Republican  era, 
after  the  practice  of  burning  the  bodies  had  been  given  up, — as  for 
instance  in  the  so-called  tomb  of  the  Scipios.  Even  in  those  ear- 
lier times  it  often  occurred  that  large  families  could  not  be  accom- 
modated in  one  chamber,  and  it  had  been  found  necessary  to  gain 
more  room  by  arranging  lateral  passages,  with  or  without  larger 
recesses.  In  the  cemeteries  of  the  united  and  rapidly  increasing 
community  of  Christians  such  an  extension  of  the  place  of  burial 
was  even  more  requisite.  They  were  obliged  to  crowd  the  corri- 
dors and  chambers  closely  together,  to  double  and  treble  their 
capacity  by  excavating  more  deeply,  and  to  extend  the  entire  area, 
until,  by  the  uniting  of  sepulchres  which  had  previously  been  iso- 
lated, an  extensive  necropolis  was  formed. 

It  is  scarcely  possible  to  give  an  adequate  account  of  the  his- 
torical development  of  the  catacombs.  The  oldest  cemeteries  of 
this  kind  have  been  but  insufficiently  explored  ;  their  original  ar- 
rangement has  been  rendered  uncertain  by  extensive  alterations, 


4  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE. 

and  they  have  often  been  choked  with  debris,  or  entirely  destroyed. 
The  cemetery  of  the  Vatican  is  quite  lost  for  the  purposes  of  com- 
parison, by  reason  of  the  changes  brought  about  through  the  build- 
ing of  St.  Peter's.      Of  the   other  cemeteries,  dating  back  to   the 
apostolic  age :  those  of  Lucina,  or  Comodilla,  near  St.  Paul's,  on 
the  Via  Ostiensis ;  of  Priscilla,  on  the  Via  Salaria  Nova ;  of  Ostri- 
anum,  or  Fontis  S.  Petri,  between  Via  Salaria  and  Nomentana ;  and 
of  Domitilla,  on  the  Via  Ardeatina, — only  the  last  has  been  system- 
atically investigated,  and  this  but  in  part.     We  find  in  them  little 
that   is  peculiarly  Christian.      They   represent,  it   is  true,  the   first 
•patriarchal  government  of  the   Christian   congregations,  by  main- 
taining the    character  of   family  burial-places,  but   they  show   no 
traces  of  that  community  of  sepulchre  which  in  course  of  time 
became  general.     Christian  land-owners  took  advantage  of  the  Ro- 
man law,  which  permitted  the  burial  even   of  executed  criminals 
upon  private  tracts  situated  without  the  city,  as  is  proved  by  the 
fact  that  the  earliest  martyrs  of  the  Church  were  interred  on  the 
Appian  Way,  the  Via  Ostiensis,  and  the  Via  Aurelia.     The  tombs 
found  at  these  places  were  constructed  of  masonry,  instead  of  being 
merely  excavated  in  the  tufa  formation ;  they  have  niches  for  sar- 
cophagi, stuccoed  architectural  ornaments  which  but  rarely  appear 
after   the   third    century,  frescoes   of  a  classical    style,  inscriptions 
with  but  slight  traces  of  the  Christian  belief,  and,  finally,  are  with- 
out those  small  resting-places  for  the  bodies,  in  the  walls  of  the 
chambers   and  passages,  which   afterwards   appear.     All  these   pe- 
culiarities distinguish  the  apostolic  cemeteries  from  the  later  Chris- 
tian places  of  interment.     The  typical  form  of  the  catacomb  first 
appears  completely  determined  in  the  third  century,  notably  in  the 
plan  of  that  of  Calixtus,  although  the  earlier  cemeteries — of  Prae- 
textus,  on  the  Appian  Way,  and  of  Maximus  and  Jordani,  on  the 
Via  Salaria — dating  to  the  second  century,  may  have  decided  many 
features  of  the  arrangement.     We  limit  our  present  consideration, 
therefore,  to  the  former  representative  necropolis,  with  its  various 
extensions,  especially  as  this  complex  alone  has  been  thoroughly 
examined  and  published. 

The  Catacomb  of  Calixtus  had  its  origin  without  doubt  in  a 
family  burial-ground  of  considerable  extent  which  was  comprised 


CATACOMB   OF   CALIXTUS. 


5 


among  the  possessions  of  the  Cczcilia  gens,  and  in  which  members 
of  the  Cornelia  gens  and  the  Poinponia  gens  had,  as  relatives,  some 
right.  Before  the  Christian  necropolis  was  laid  out  upon  the  site, 
the  whole  area  must  have  been  divided  into  several  small  ceme- 
teries. The  most  important  of  these,  before  the  Christian  era,  was 
probably  that  adjoining  the  Appian  Way,  and  distinguished  by  a 
mausoleum  of  some  eminence.  This  tract  was  not  at  first  acquired 
by  the  Church.  The  dependents  of  the  Roman  families  before 


Fig.  2. — Plan  of  the  Catacomb  of  Calixtus. 
a.  Original  excavation,     b.  Later  extension. 

mentioned  appear  to  have  been  buried  at  a  greater  distance  from 
the  high-road.  The  Christian  remains  here  discovered,  which  date 

o 

to  the  first  century,  are  few  in  number.  From  various  stamps  upon 
bricks,  inscriptions  and  other  evidences,  it  is  plain  that  in  the  time 
of  Marcus  Aurelius  and  Commodus,  before  A.D.  177,  the  tract  ad- 
joining the  Appian  Way  (the  Coemeterium  Lucinae)  had  become 
of  less  importance  than  the  burial-grounds  situated  south  of  the 
Via  Appia  Ardeatina,  which  were  afterwards  united,  and  formed 
the  Catacomb  of  Calixtus.  According  to  the  convincing  deductions 


6  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE. 

of  G.  B.  de  Rossi,  this  was  the  age  when  the  most  celebrated  Chris- 
tian representative  of  the  original  proprietors,  St.  Cecilia,  suffered 
martyrdom.  To  this  epoch  are  to  be  ascribed  the  six  small  cham- 
bers and  the  extended  corridors  approached  by  two  parallel  stair- 
cases, in  which  spaces  the  owners,  after  having  been  converted, 
buried  not  only  the  members  of  their  own  families,  but  others  of 
the  Christian  faith.  (Fig.  2,  a.} 

The  latter  usage,  increasing  more  and  more,  led  ultimately  to 
the  formal  grant  of  the  tract  to  the  Church.     This  transfer  was 
probably  made  on  the  occasion  of  a  decree  concerning  communal 
sepulchres,  promulgated  by  the  Emperor  Septimius  Severus  in  the 
year   197.     It  is  in  this  business  that  the  Christian    Church   first 
appears   as  a   corporative   body,  in    the   legal   sense  of   the  word. 
When  Zephyrinus  assumed  the  papacy,  in  the  year  in  which  this 
edict  was  promulgated,  he  named   Calixtus,  who   afterwards   also 
became  pope,  as  his  deacon,  and  appointed  him  supervisor  of  these 
cemeteries,  declaring  them  to  be  under  the  direct  administration 
of  the  Church — a  control  which  had  not  been  thought  of  before, 
when   the   private   burial-places   had   only  occasionally,  and    as   a 
favor,  been  made  accessible  to  the  Christians.     This  centralization 
was  further  confirmed  by  the  papal  founder  giving  up  the  right  to 
be  buried  by  the  side  of  St.  Peter  in  the  vault  of  the  Vatican, — a 
privilege  which  he  enjoyed  as  head  of  the  Church, — and  ordering 
his  body  to  be  interred  in  the  new  Christian  necropolis.     This  ex- 
ample was  followed  during  the  succeeding  century  by  nearly  all 
the  popes.     A  kind  of  open  secret  was,  however,  still  maintained 
in  regard  to  the  cemetery,  which  prevented  its  being  called  by  any 
term  expressing  the  true  importance  of  the  site.     Sometimes  it  was 
designated  by  the  name  of  the  founder,  Zephyrinus,  sometimes  by 
that  of  the  patroness,  St.  Cecilia,  and  more  commonly  still  by  that 
of  the  first  supervisor,  Calixtus.     It  is  not  possible  to  decide  with 
'  absolute  certainty  what  changes  were  effected  in  the  chambers  of 
this    catacomb    upon    its    coming    under    the    jurisdiction    of    the 
Church ;  but  it  is  probable  that,  even  during  the  first  years,  several 
new  spaces  were  added  to  those  already  opening  from  the  northern 
corridor,  that  passages  laid  out  in  the   plan  of  the   Caecilian  com- 
plex were  excavated,  and  that  several  of  those  existing  were  con- 


CATACOMB   OF   CALIXTUS. 


siderably  enlarged.  (Fig.  2,  b.}  An  entirely  new  story  upon  a  lower 
level  was  projected,  and  this  extension  was,  in  fact,  commenced  by 
providing  a  broad  and  deep  staircase.  But  it  was  soon  found  that 
the  lower  stratum  of  earth  differed  from  that  previously  worked  in, 
and  lacked  the  necessary  solidity  for  tunnellings  of  this  kind ;  the 
scheme  was  therefore  relinquished.  It  is  particularly  unfortunate 
that  we  are  not  able  to  determine  in  what  relation  the  chief  vault 
of  the  necropolis,  namely  the  burial  chamber  of  the  popes,  stood  to 
the  cemetery  as  it  was  before  the  time  of  Calixtus.  This  chamber 


Fig.  3. — Third  Crypt  of  the  Northern  Passage  in  the  Catacomb  of  Calixtus.    First  Period. 

may  well  have  existed  under  the  Caecilians — it  may  even  have  been 
the  tomb  of  St.  Cecilia  herself,  as  the  remains  of  her  body,  when 
discovered  in  the  ninth  century,  were  not  lying  in  their  original 
position,  but  in  a  tomb  which  could  not  have  been  one  of  those 
earliest  excavated.  It  is  at  least  certain  that,  in  the  course  of  time, 
the  Papal  Vault  was  subjected  to  many  changes.  In  form  and 
decoration  it  may  be  assumed  to  have  resembled  at  first  the  cham- 
ber opposite  to  it,  which  is  called,  from  the  painting  upon  the  ceil- 
ing, that  of  Orpheus;  but  we  can  only  judge  of  the  vault  from  the 
remains  of  the  restoration,  made  in  the  time  of  Pope  Damasus 
(A.D.  366-384),  in  which  state  it  is  represented  by  Fig.  4. 


8 


EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE. 


The  general  plan  of  the  Catacomb  of  Calixtus  (Fig.  2)  is  of  ex- 
treme simplicity.  The  chief  corridors  form  an  oblong  comprising 
nearly  the  whole  area,  and  are  connected  by  several  parallel  pas- 
sages running  transversely.  The  resting-places  for  the  dead  (locult) 
appear  in  all  spaces,  being  cut  into  the  tufa  walls  in  several  tiers, 
and  of  such  dimensions  that  each  is  capable  of  receiving  one  body 
lying  in  the  direction  of  the  passage.  These  tombs  were  finally 
closed  by  a  slab  of  stone,  or  walled  up  with  bricks.  Niches  shaped 


Fig.  4. — Papal  Vault  in  the  Catacomb  of  Calixtus. 
a.  Present  condition,     b.  Restored  view. 

like  an  arch  (arcosolia)  do  not  at  first  appear,  the  ceilings  being 
either  horizontal  or  only  slightly  curved.  (Fig.  5.)  The  small, 
almost  cubical  chambers  (cryptae  or  cubicula),  are  fewer  in  number 
than  the  corridors;  their  ceilings  are  commonly  curved,  and  but 
rarely  provided  with  openings  for  light  and  air  (luminarid).  These 
chambers  contained  sarcophagi  (mensae)  reserved  for  eminent  per- 
sonages; being  covered  with  large  slabs  of  marble,  the  coffers  were 
frequently  used  as  altar- tables.  Masonry  of  brick  was  employed 


CATACOMB   OF   CALIXTUS.  9 

when  found  necessary,  and  all  the  walls  were  thinly  covered  with 
stucco,  whitewashed  and  roughly  painted. 

The  persecutions  with  which  the  third  century  began,  disturbed 
for  the  first  time  the  regular  development  of  the  plan.  At  that 
period  seem  to  have  been  formed  those  hidden  labyrinthic  galleries 
which  led  from  the  side  farthest  from  the  street  to  the  neighbor- 

o 

ing  sand-pits,  in  order  that,  in  case  of  surprise,  an  escape  might  be 
provided,  and  that  the  believers,  when  watched  by  informers,  might 
find  unobserved  entrance  by  means  of  ladders  and  ropes.  As  in 
general  the  persecutions  were  directed  against  the  congregations 
rather  than  against  the  cemeteries,  the  extension  of  the  latter  was 
carried  regularly  forward.  Indeed,  from  the  death  of  Septimius 


Fig.  5. — Forms  of  Tombs  in  the  Catacombs.  - 
a.  Loculus.     b.  Arcosolium. 

Severus,  in  the  year  211,  to  the  beginning  of  the  persecution  under 
Decius,  in  250,  the  work  was  pursued  with  great  diligence,  and  but 
rarely  interrupted. 

After  the  founder  of  the  necropolis,  Pope  Zephyrinus,  had 
been  interred  there,  in  the  year  218,  even  the  bodies  of  the 
chief  officers  of  the  Church  who  had  died  in  exile  were  permitted 
to  be  publicly  brought,  with  funeral  rites,  and  laid  in  the  Papal 
Vault.  Pope  Fabianus  connected  the  oldest  enclosure  of  the 
Cemetery  of  Calixtus  with  a  second  tract,  situated  upon  the  other 
side  of  the  Via  Appia  Ardeatina,  which  had  likewise  belonged  to 
the  Caecilian  family;  and,  probably  in  249,  with  still  a  third  ad- 
joining complex,  which  appears  to  have  been  given  to  the  Church 
by  Anatolia,  daughter  of  the  Consul  Aemilianus,  who  died  in  that 
year.  This  last  catacomb  received,  in  later  times,  the  name  of  St. 


10  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE. 

Eusebius.  Alexander  Severus  had  even  permitted  assemblages  of 
the  Christians  in  the  city  itself,  and  under  so  tolerant  a  rule  the 
cemeteries  of  course  remained  undisturbed.  Philippus  Arabs  was 
still  more  favorably  inclined  towards  the  sect,  and  in  his  time  per- 
mission  was  granted  to  erect  buildings  above  the  burial-grounds, 
such  as  the  cella  with  the  three  apses,  which  will  be  referred  to 

below. 

The  experience  of  years  had  fundamentally  changed  the  plan  of 
excavation.  In  proportion  as  the  corridors  diminished,  the  crypts 
increased,  and  generally  bordered  both  sides  of  the  galleries.  In- 
stead of  the  simple  mensae  (Fig.  5),  arched  niches  were  introduced 
for  distinguished  individuals.  In  order  that  the  chambers  might  be 


'IdMtr 


Fig.  6.— Plan  of  a  Crypt  in  the  Coemeterium  ad  septem  Columbas. 


better  ventilated,  efforts  were  made  to  gain  light  and  air  through 
shafts,  which  openings  served  also  for  carrying  away  the  disph 
earth.     The  third  cemetery,  that  of  St.  Eusebius,  displays  f 
first  time  a  successful  arrangement  of  two  stories.     It  was  parl 
larly  desirable  to  provide  larger  spaces  for  the  accommodation  c 
semblages,  and  this  was  effected  chiefly  through  the  combination  o 
several  chambers,  although  these  never  attained,  in  the  Necropo 
of  Calixtus,  the  extent  of  the  halls  in  the  Catacomb  of 
and  in  the  Coemeterium  ad  septem  Columbas  on  the 
Cocomero  (Fig.  6). 


THE   CATACOMBS.  I! 

The  bloody  persecution  under  Decius,  in  the  year  250,  seems 
not  to  have  molested  the  catacombs  as  places  of  burial,  and  the 
persecution  of  Valerian,  A.D.  257-258,  was  directed  solely  against 
the  assembling  of  congregations.  Pope  Sixtus  II.,  in  the  year  258, 
while  administering  the  service  in  the  Cemetery  of  Pretextatus, 
amid  numerous  believers,  was  seized  and  beheaded  before  the  altar, 
yet  no  objection  was  made  to  the  burial  of  his  body  in  the  Papal 
Vault  of  the  Cemetery  of  Calixtus.  It  is  true  that  at  this  period 
the  Christians  destroyed  the  staircases  to  the  oldest  of  these  cata- 
combs, only  leaving  open  the  secret  entrances  through  the  sand- 
pits; but  this  seems  to  have  been  done  in  a  season  of  panic  which 
quickly  passed,  and,  from  the  time  of  Gailienus  until  towards  the 
close  of  the  reign  of  Diocletian,  the  Christians  continued  in  undis- 
turbed peace  to  bury  their  popes  in  the  Papal  Vault,  then  called 
after  the  martyr,  Pope  Sixtus.  They  also  extended  the  necropolis 
itself  beyond  the  boundaries  of  the  three  tracts  before  mentioned, 
to  the  Cemetery  of  S.  Soteridis,  situated  at  the  west,  thus  doubling 
the  area  enclosed. 

Under  Diocletian  and  Maxentius  (A.D.  303-306)  the  danger  of 
confiscation  threatened  that  part  of  the  cemeteries  distinguished  by 
greater  age  and  containing  the  Papal  Vault,  this  interference  being 
proposed  with  the  view  of  attacking  the  ecclesiastical  community  at 
its  greatest  stronghold.  The  Christians,  affrighted  by  the  impending 
profanation  of  the  sacred  resting-places  of  their  martyrs,  could  only 
protect  them  by  hastily  covering  the  catacombs  and  passages  with 
earth.  Much  was  thus  preserved  for  the  excavations  of  modern 
times.  Still  it  is  to  be  taken  into  consideration  in  this  regard,  that 
the  vestiges  now  discovered  have  frequently  been  disarranged  by 
the  burrowings  which,  after  the  cessation  of  the  persecutions,  had 
been  extended  regardless  of  the  boundaries  of  the  original  plan. 
The  debris  with  which  the  catacombs  had  been  filled  during  the 
persecutions  under  Diocletian  was  partially  removed  at  the  time 
when  Pope  Damasus  (A.D.  366-384)  restored  the  chief  crypt,  which 
he  provided  with  a  new  approach,  and,  in  great  measure,  with  new 
surroundings.  This  was  long  after  the  Christians  had  been  formally 
permitted  to  enter  into  possession  of  their  confiscated  property. 
In  later  ages  the  burial-places  of  the  sect  increased  more  and  more, 


12  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE, 

and  after  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century  were  built  almost  ex- 
clusively  above  ground.     The  catacombs  continued  to  be  peculiarly 
venerated,  until  the  devastation  of  the  Longobards  under  Aistulf 
(A  D  755)  rendered  it  desirable  to  remove  the  remains  of  the  pope 
and  martyrs  into  the  basilicas  of  the  city  for  safe -keeping. 
was  accomplished   under  Paschalis  I.,  who,  in  817,  transported 
bones  from  the  Papal  Vault,  as  well  as  the  coffin  of  St.  Cecilia,  s 
intact  at  that  time,  from  the  ruined  cemetery  to  the  churches 
St  Praxedes  and  St.  Cecilia;  while  the  burial-grounds  outside  of  1 
walls,  with  exception   of  the  Catacomb  of  Domitilla,  remained   i, 
part  at  least,  open  and  known.     The  chief  necropolis,  neglected,  fe 


Fig.  7.-Section  of  a  Crypt  in  the  Catacomb  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Marcellinus. 

into  decay  after  this  time,  and  has  been  re-opened  and  examined  for 
the  first  time  within  our  own  century.     The  Papal  Vault  was 

covered  in  1854. 

The  form  of  the  other  cemeteries  of  Rome,  dating  from  t 
second  and  third  centuries  of  our  era,  resembles  in  the  main  that 
of  the  Necropolis  of  Calixtus  (Fig.  7).     The  number,  the  ex 
and  the  multitude  of  tombs  contained  in  these  cemeteries  is  aston- 
ishing.    The  earth  underneath   even   the   most  distant  subur 
Rome  was  honey-combed  with  corridors  and  chambers, 
found  upon  nearly  all  the  high-roads  leading  from  the  city.     G.  B. 


THE   CATACOMBS.  13 

de  Rossi  has  explored  not  less  than  twenty-six  of  the  larger  cata- 
combs, dating  from  the  time  of  the  persecutions,  several  of  which 
complexes  consist  of  united  groups  of  more  primitive  places  of 
burial.  A  list  of  these  is  here  adjoined,  giving  the  names  in  use 
before  the  reign  of  Constantine,  with  the  later  appellations  in  pa- 
rentheses: on  the  Via  Appia,  the  Ccemeteria  Calixti,  Praetextati,  and 
ad  Catacumbas  (S.  Sebastiani) ;  on  the  Via  Ardeatina,  the  Coemeteria 
Domitillae  (S.  S.  Petronillae,  Nerei,  et  Achillei)  and  Basilei  (S.  S. 
Marci  et  Marcelliani) ;  on  the  Via  Ostiensis,  the  Ccemeterium  Como- 
dillae  (S.  S.  Felicis  et  Adaucti) ;  on  the  Via  Portuensis,  the  Coeme- 
terium  Pontiani  ad  ursum  pileatum  (S.  S.  Anastasii  et  Innocentii); 
on  the  Via  Aurelia,  the  Ccemeteria  (S.  Pancratii)  Lucinae  (S.  S.  Pro- 
cessi  et  Martiniani)  and  Calepodii  (S.  Calixti  in  Via  Aurelia);  on  the 
Via  Flaminia,  the  Ccemeterium  (S.  Valentini) ;  somewhat  aside  from 
this  latter  street  the  Ccemeterium  ad  septem  Columbas  (ad  caput 
S.  Joannis) ;  on  the  Via  Salaria  vetus,  the  Ccemeterium  Basilae  (S. 
Hermetis  and  S.  Pamphyli);  on  the  Via  Salaria  nova,  the  Ccemeteria 
Maximi  (S.  Felicitatis),  (S.  Saturnini),  Jordanorum  (S.  Alexandri), 
and  Priscillae  (S.  S.  Silvestri  et  Marcelli) ;  on  the  Via  Nomentana, 
the  Ccemeterium  Ostrianum  (Fontis  S.  Petri) ;  on  the  Via  Tibur- 
tina,  the  Ccemeteria  (S.  Hippolyti)  and  Cyriacae  (S.  Laurentii),  and 
(S.  Castuli) ;  on  the  Via  Latina,  the  Ccemeteria  (S.  Gordiani),  (S.  Ter- 
tulliani),  and  Aproniani  (S.  Eugeniae). 

It  may  be  assumed  that  similar  catacombs  existed  in  all  those 
larger  cities  where  Christian  congregations  were  formed,  in  so  far 
as  the  character  of  the  earth  would  permit  of  such  excavations. 
Only  a  few  of  these,  however,  have  become  known.  Next  in  im- 
portance to  those  of  Rome  ranks  that  of  St.  Januarius  in  Naples, 
the  chief  portal  of  which  is  so  imposing  that  it  hardly  appears  to 
have  been  constructed  for  the  original  cemetery,  but  rather  to  have 
been  erected  in  later  times,  as  a  monumental  entrance  for  the  net- 
work of  combined  corridors  and  chambers.  In  the  catacombs  of  Syra- 
cuse is  a  baptismal  crypt  in  use  at  the  present  day.  The  Cemetery 
of  Alexandria,  discovered  a  few  decades  ago,  shows  a  well-propor- 
tioned arrangement  of  cubical  chambers,  and  the  peculiarity  of  a 
different  system  of  niches,  which,  instead  of  being  excavated  with 
their  axes  parallel  to  the  passages,  are  sunk  transversely.  (Fig.  8.) 


,4  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE. 

As  the  entrance  buildings  of  the  Catacomb  of  Calixtus  were,  for 
the  most  part,  destroyed  as  early  as  the  time  of  the  persecutions,  it 
is  difficult  to  say  what  may  have  been  their  architectural  charac 
teristics      The  portal  near  the  Catacomb  of  Domitilla,  having  t 
longed  to  a  very  early  Christian  tomb,  certainly  cannot   be 
sidered  as  a  type.     A  covered  chamber,  perhaps  after  the  style 
the  smaller  columbaria,  appears   to  have  protected  the 
when  this  did  not  proceed  from  within  some  family  mausol 


Fig.  8.-Section  and  Plan  of  Part  of  the  Catacombs  of  Alexandria. 


masonry  antedating   the  Christian  era.     We  must  distinguish  be- 
tween  these  entrances  and  the  oratories  (called  also  Memori*,Mar. 
tyria,  or  Confcsswnes\  which  seem  to  have  been   erected   to   mar 
above  ground  the  central  points  of  the  areas  of  the  various  ceme- 
teries.    The  oratory,  consecrated  afterwards  to  St.  Sixtus  and 
Cecilia,  standing  over  the  second  tract  of  the  Catacomb  of  Calh 
dates  from  the  period  before  the  persecution  of  Deems,  the  po 
tifkate  of  Fabianus,  A.  D.  250.     Others,  partially  preserved,  like 
of  S  Soteridis,  situated  not  far  from   the  preceding,  and  a  s 


ORATORIES.  15 

building  near  the  Basilica  of  Symphorosa,  nine  miles  from  Rome, 
on  the  Via  Tiburtina,  seem  to  be  of  but  little  later  date.  (Figs.  9 
and  11.)  The  ground -plans  are  oblong,  with  semicircular  enlarge- 
ments on  three  sides,  the  fourth  having  formed  the  entrance.  Al- 
though these  oratories  served  the  double  purpose  of  the  larger 
crypts,  which  were  both  monumental  tombs  and  places  of  worship, 
it  still  appears  that  their  form  is  derived  less  from  the  plan  of  the 
round -topped  arches  above  the  niches  for  the  bodies  than  from  the 
direct  prototypes  offered  by  antique  mausoleums,  such  as  are  found 
on  the  Via  Appia.  (Comp.  Canina,  Via  Appia,  tv.  20.) 

These  oratories  and  the  crypts  of  the  catacombs  could  not  suffice 
for  the  considerable  spaces  required  by  Christian  ceremonies.    Other 


Fig.  gA. — Antique  Mauso- 
leum on  the  Appian  Way. 


Fig.  QB. — Oratory  of 
SS.  Sixti  et  Caeciliae. 


Fig.  gc. — Oratory  of 
S.  Soteridis. 


halls  of  assemblage  existed  from  the  earliest  times  in  those  cities 
where  Christian  communities  had  been  formed,  these  being  gen- 
erally provided  by  the  dwellings  of  the  more  wealthy  converts.* 


*  J.  G.  Gutensohn  und  J.  M.  Knapp,  Denkmale  der  christlichen  Religion,  oder  Samm- 
lung  der  altesten  christlichen  Kirchen  oder  Basiliken  Roms  vom  4.  bis  zum  13.  Jahrhundert. 
(Letter-press  by  Ch.  C.  J.  Bunsen.)  Munchen,  1822-1827. — L.  Canina,  Ricerche  sull'archi- 
tettura  piu  propria  dei  tempi  cristiani.  Roma,  1846. — A.  Chr.  A.  Zestermann,  Die  an- 
tiken  und  die  christlichen  Basiliken.  Leipzig,  1847. — F.  v.  Quast,  Ueber  Form,  Einrichtung 
und  AusschmUckung  der  altesten  christlichen  Kirche.  Berlin,  1853. — J.  A.  Messmer,  Ueber 
den  Ursprung,  die  Entwickelung  und  Bedeutung  der  Basilika  in  der  christlichen  Baukunst. 
1854. — The  same,  Ueber  den  Ursprung  der  christlichen  Basilika,  in  Quast  and  Otte's  Zeit- 
schrift  fur  christliche  Archaologie  und  Kunst.  II.  1859. — H.  Hiibsch,  Die  altchristlichen 
Kirchen  nach  den  Baudenkmalen  und  alteren  Beschreibungen.  Karlsruhe,  1858. — W. 
Weingartner,  Ursprung  und  Entwickelung  des  christlichen  Kirchengebaudes.  Leipzig, 
1858. — O.  Mothes,  Die  Basilikenform  bei  den  Christen  der  ersten  Jahrhunderte.  Leipzig, 


l6  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND    BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE. 

The  rite  of  the  Last  Supper  had  been  inaugurated  in  the  triclinium 
of  a  private  house,  and  the  followers  of  Christ  could  have  no  objec- 
tion to  holding  their  religious  exercises  in  rooms  of  this  kind.  After 
the  Ascension  the  Apostles  had  assembled  in  an  "  upper  chamber," 
and  it  was  thus  that  the  disciples  met  in  later  times — not  only  for 
their  agapae,  or  love-feasts,  but  for  every  kind  of  devotional  service. 
This  custom  is  particularly  mentioned  as  having  maintained  in 
Ephesus,  and  the  traditions  of  gatherings  in  the  houses  of  Pudens, 
Cecilia,  Eutropia,  Lucina,  Anastasia,  and  others  prove  beyond  a 
doubt  that  in  Rome  some  chambers,  if  not  the  dining-rooms,  of 
private  dwellings  were  similarly  employed.  Such  halls  acquired 
by  this  usage  a  certain  consecration,  and  they  seem,  not  uncom- 
monly, to  have  been  set  apart  entirely  for  religious  purposes,  being 
more  and  more  adapted  to  their  ecclesiastical  character  by  altera- 
tions both  of  plan  and  of  decoration.  Of  this  kind  were  those 
rooms  the  remains  of  which  were  discovered  in  the  eighteenth 
century  near  S.  Prisca,  in  the  House  of  Pudens,  and  quite  recently 
(in  1878)  on  the  Monte  della  Giustizia,  not  far  from  the  Baths  of 
Diocletian.  The  use  of  these  buildings  for  religious  services  may 
at  times  have  been  interrupted,  as  G.  B.  de  Rossi  (Bullet,  christ. 
1870,  153)  assumes  to  have  been  the  case  with  the  structure,  sim- 
ilar to  a  triclinium,  under  the  primitive  Basilica  of  S.  Clemente. 
Even  in  the  Apostolic  age  this  room  had  served  for  Christian 
gatherings ;  yet  at  the  time  of  the  persecutions  it  was  con- 
fiscated, transformed  into  a  chapel  of  Mithras,  and  not  given 
back  to  the  Christians  until  the  reign  of  Constantine  the  Great. 

(F&  I-) 

The  Christian  congregations  increased  so  rapidly  that  even  the 
largest  dining-rooms  no  longer  sufficed  to  accommodate  them ;  they 
thus  found  it  necessary  to  occupy  the  most  spacious  chambers  pro- 
vided by  the  Roman  dwelling.  These  were  the  private  basilicas, 
or  ceremonial  and  judgment  halls.  The  credit  of  having  directed 

1865.  II.  Edition,  1869. — J.  P.  Richter,  Der  Ursprung  dcr  abendlandischen  Kirchenge- 
baude.  Wien,  1878. — H.  Holtzinger,  Die  romische  Privatbasilika.  Repertorium  flir  Kunst- 
wissenschaft,  Vol.  V.  Berlin  und  Stuttgart,  1882. — G.  Dehio,  Die  Genesis  der  christlichen 
Basilika.  Sitzungsberichte  der  hist.  Cl.  der  kgl.  bayr.  Akad.  der  \Vissenschaften.  Mun- 
chen,  1883. 


PRIVATE  BASILICAS.  17 

the  attention  of  investigators  to  this  prototype  is  due  to  J.  A. 
Messmer.  The  form  of  the  private  basilica  in  the  houses  of  the 
Roman  aristocracy  has  been  described  in  the  History  of  Ancient 
Art.*  It  was  there  shown  that  they  differed  essentially  from  the 
original  type  of  the  forensic  basilica.  The  chief  differences  are,  first, 
that  the  colonnades  of  the  interior  did  not  extend  entirely  around  the 
central  oblong,  but,  after  the  manner  of  the  hyperoon  in  the  larger 
Hellenic  temples,  were  restricted  to  the  two  long  sides;  and,  second, 
that  the  nave  was  higher  than  the  side  aisles.  Both  these  pecul- 
iarities resulted  from  the  original  hall  having  been  enclosed  by 
other  rooms  of  the  Roman  dwelling.  The  elevation  of  the  nave 
became  necessary  because,  in  a  space  thus  surrounded,  windows 
could  not  be  opened  through  outer  walls,  as  had  been  the  case  in 
the  free-standing,  forensic  basilicas ;  and  if  the  light  were  not  to  be 
admitted  through  an  aperture  in  roof  and  ceiling,  an  arrangement 
of  windows  was  only  possible  by  thus  increasing  the  height  of  the 
nave.  Such  a  construction  could,  in  its  turn,  only  be  carried  out 
by  giving  up  the  end  galleries:  it  was  thus  alone  that  the  great 
weight  and  thrust  of  the  clerestory,  with  its  independent  roof  and 
ceiling,  could  be  supported.  The  end  walls  might  then  be  strength- 
ened, and  the  columns  in  great  measure  relieved  of  their  burden. 
This  disposition  of  side  aisles,  differing  from  the  original  type  of 
the  public  Roman  basilica,  as  displayed  in  the  Basilica  Porcia  on 
the  Forum  Romanum,  is  noticeable  in  the  Villa  of  the  Quinctil- 
ians,  on  the  Appian  Way,  according  to  the  plans  given  by  Canina. 
(Fig.  10.)  As  the  present  writer  predicted  in  an  earlier  work,  the 
same  feature  has  since  been  found  in  the  palace  basilica  of  the 
Domus  Flavia  upon  the  Palatine,  mentioned  by  Plutarch  (Popl.  15). 
It  is  evident  from  various  sources  that  the  basilicas  of  private 
houses  were  used  as  places  of  assemblage  by  Christian  communities 
before  the  time  of  Constantine.  The  pseudo-Clementine  Recogni- 
tiones,  which  certainly  date  from  the  first  half  of  the  third  century, 
relate  that  one  Theophilus,  a  rich  citizen  of  Antioch,  gave  the  great 
basilica  of  his  house  to  the  Christians  as  a  hall  for  gatherings. 


*  "  History  of  Ancient  Art,"  by  Dr.  Franz  von  Reber.     Revised  by  the  author;  trans- 
lated and  augmented  by  Joseph  Thacher  Clarke.     Harper  &  Brothers,  New  York. 


i8 


EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE. 


Similar  accounts  have  been  handed  down  by  Hieronymus  (Ep.  ad 
Ocean.)  concerning  the  basilica  in  the  Palace  of  the  Lateran,  which 
was  famous  even  as  early  as  the  first  century  of  our  era ;  and  also 
by  Ammianus  Marcellinus  (xxvii.  3),  who  speaks  of  the  Basilica 
Sicinini — which  in  later  ages  appears  to  have  become  the  Basilica 
Liberiana  (S.  Maria  Maggiore) — having  been  used  by  the  Christians. 
Other  early  Christian  churches  may,  with  reasonable  probability,  be 
considered  to  have  been  remodelled  from  the  great  halls  of  Roman 
dwellings,  although  it  cannot  be  directly  proved  that  these  were  at 
any  time  employed  originally  as  private  basilicas.  Such  is  the  Ba- 


Is 

< 

» 

8 

K 

*     , 

Ja  BJ! 

S3                frx 

Israel 

Fig.  10. — Antique  Palace  Basilicas. 

a.   Plan  of  the  Basilica  of  the  Domus  Flavia  on  the  Palatine,     b.    Plan  of  the  Basilica  in  the  Villa  of  the 
Quinctilians  on  the  Appian  Way. 

silica  Pudensiana,  near  S.  Maria,  in  Trastevere,  which,  if  its  first  ar- 
rangement for  this  purpose  really  dates  back  to  the  year  224,  is  as 
old  as  A.  D.  145.  Such  is  also  the  Basilica  of  Junius  Bassus,  after- 
wards known  as  that  of  S.  Andrea,  in  Catabarbara,  which  preserved, 
even  until  the  sixteenth  century,  a  decoration  of  the  walls  ante- 
dating Christian  times.  (Fig.  46.)  And,  finally,  such  is  the  Basilica 
Sessoriana  (S^Croce,  in  Gerusalemme),  which  was  part  of  a  palace 
of  Constantine,  consecrated  as  a  church  in  the  year  330,  it  is  said 
at  the  instance  of  St.  Helena.  Hubsch's  examination  of  this  latter 
building,  as  it  at  present  appears  after  many  alterations,  has  made 
it  probable  that  two-storied  side  aisles  were  originally  under  one 


PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIAN   BASILICAS.  19 

roof,  with  a  nave  of  equal  height.  More  recent  investigators  in 
the  field  of  Christian  archaeology  have  recognized  private  basilicas, 
adapted  to  the  Christian  ceremonial,  in  several  churches  of  Africa. 

Halls  of  assemblage  such  as  these  could  hardly  have  been  kept 
quite  secret ;  and  the  complaint  (Minucius,  c.  viii.  x.  xxxii.)  that  the 
Christians  had  no  public  places  of  worship,  and  carried  on  their  de- 
votions in  hidden  corners,  can  certainly  not  be  applied,  in  a  literal 
sense,  to  the  entire  epoch  before  Constantine.  A  house  for  Chris- 
tian meetings  is  mentioned  as  existing  at  Edessa  as  early  as  the 
year  202.  A  passage  of  Lampridius  (Vita  Alex.  Sev.  xlix.)  must 
certainly  be  considered  to  refer  to  some  place  of  worship  outside 
of  a  private  building,  he  stating  that  when  the  Christians  contended 
\vith  the  tavern-keepers  for  a  locus  publicus,  the  Emperor  Alexander 
Severus  (222-235)  decided  "it  to  be  better  that  the  place  should 
be  used  for  the  worship  of  God,  in  whatsoever  manner,  than  for 
carousing."  The  edict  of  A.  D.  259,  whereby  Gallienus  restored  to 
the  Christians  those  cemeteries  and  consecrated  rooms  which  had 
been  taken  away  from  them  during  the  persecution  under  Decius 
(250-253),  speaks  for  the  existence  of  independent  churches  in  the 
cities.  And  the  observation  of  Optatus  Milevitanus  (de  Schism. 
Donat.  ii.) — that  there  were  in  Rome,  soon  after  the  persecution 
of  Decius,  more  than  forty  basilicas — can  hardly  be  taken  to  refer 
merely  to  the  chapels  of  cemeteries,  or  to  the  oratories  of  private 
houses.  It  is  quite  natural,  and  is  moreover  susceptible  of  proof, 
that  the  places  of  Christian  worship  were  greatly  increased  in 
number  throughout  the  entire  Roman  empire  during  the  freedom 
from  persecution  which  was  enjoyed  from  the  reign  of  Decius  un- 
til that  of  Diocletian.  But  it  is  not  less  certain  that  very  few 
of  the  churches,  whose  existence  had  at  that  time  become  gen- 
erally known,  escaped  destruction  during  the  persecution  under 
Diocletian,  A.  D.  302.  Hence  we  are  acquainted  with  no  Chris- 
tian basilica  built  for  purposes  of  worship  before  the  age  of  Con- 
stantine. 

The  Christian  communities  do  not  at  first  appear  to  have  been 
unreasonably  particular  as  to  the  nature  of  the  places  where  they 
held  their  assemblages.  They  employed  without  distinction  the 
larger  rooms  of  the  Roman  dwelling,  beginning,  as  before  said, 


20  EARLY  CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE. 

with  the  triclinium  inaugurated  by  the  Last  Supper,  but  soon  tak- 
ing advantage  of  the  greater  size  and  more  convenient  arrangement 
of  the  private  basilicas,  whose  name  as  well  as  whose  form  became 
typical  for  Christian  houses  of  worship.  The  word  basilica  was 
used  synonymously  with  church  shortly  before  the  time  of  Con- 
stantine,  appearing  at  first  in  Africa,  instead  of  the  earlier  designa- 
tions: proseukterion,  kyriakon,  dominicum,  ecclesia,  and  conventicu- 
lutn.  It  is  true  that  the  author  of  the  "  Itinerarium  Burdigalense," 
A.  D.  330,  thought  it  necessary  to  explain  the  name  of  the  Constan- 
tine  Basilica  at  Jerusalem.  But  Constantine  himself,  in  his  letter 
to  Bishop  Macarius  of  that  city,  uses  the  word  without  further 
ado ;  and  it  also  appears,  in  326,  in  the  dedicatory  inscription  of 
the  church  at  Castellum  Tingitanum.  Optatus  Milevitanus,  writing 
towards  the  end  of  the  fourth  century,  employs  the  term  to  desig- 
nate all  places  of  worship  existing  before  the  time  of  Diocletian, 
without  distinction  as  to  form.  In  the  forensic  basilica  only  the 
name  had  remained,  while  the  hall  itself  had  been  so  freely  devel- 
oped that  at  last  scarcely  a  trace  of  the  original  type  is  to  be  rec- 
ognized, as  for  instance  in  the  Basilica  of  Maxentius.  The  Chris- 
tian basilica,  on  the  other  hand,  retained  not  only  the  name  but 
also  the  characteristic  arrangement  of  the  private  basilica,  even  at 
a  time  when  the  church  had  long  outgrown  the  domestic  privacy 
in  which  the  design  had  originated. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  public  and  victorious  development  of 
the  Christian  Church  dates  from  the  year  312,  when  Constantine 
put  an  end  to  all  persecutions  by  the  battle  of  Saxa  Rubra.  The 
previous  destruction  of  sacred  edifices  only  served  to  increase  the 
architectural  activity  of  the  following  epoch.  The  persecutions  of 
Diocletian  were  thus,  in  several  ways,  a  direct  advantage,  and  freed 
the  ecclesiastical  construction  from  many  cramping  reminiscences. 
The  building  of  churches  was  carried  on  with  such  energy  that,  in 
a  few  years,  private  places  of  assemblage  became  unnecessary.  The 
holding  of  divine  service  in  the  houses  of  the  faithful  was  dis- 
countenanced by  the  Council  of  Laodicea,  in  the  year  328.  It  thus 
came  about  that  churches  only  continued  in  their  former  private 
places  when  it  was  possible  to  free  them  entirely  from  the  sur- 
rounding dwelling-rooms,  as  was  the  case  in  S.  Andrea  Catabarbara, 


PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIAN   BASILICAS.  21 

S.  Pudenziana,  S.  Croce  in  Gerusalemme,  S.  Giovanni  in  Laterano, 
and  S.  Maria  Maggiore.  This  concentration  of  communities  made 
a  multiplication  of  the  church  buildings  unnecessary,  notwithstand- 
ing the  great  increase  of  the  congregations ;  in  fact,  it  was  possible 
to  supply  the  twenty-five  parochial  districts  into  which  Rome  was 
divided  by  Pope  Marcellus  (308-310)  with  smaller  basilicas  already 
existing.  All  these  churches  were  of  the  same  general  form,  those 
which  were  erected  in  place  of  the  cemetery  chapels  also  displaying 
the  basilical  plan. 

As  the  type  appears  fully  determined,  even  in  the  structures 
erected  by  Constantine,  it  is  not  possible  to  recognize  a  regular 
development  of  the  Christian  basilica  by  considering  the  edifices 
in  chronological  sequence.  The  date  of  some  of  these  primitive 
churches  is  not  known,  and  others  have  been  subjected  to  altera- 


. 

TIVOLI   ^ VinTiburtina.  >•    ROMA 


0          S          10  20  SoMtr. 

Fig.  II. — Basilica  of  St.  Symphorosa. 

tions  so  extensive  that  their  original  disposition  is  no  longer  plain. 
A  certain  clumsy  simplicity,  common  to  the  unpretentious  churches 
of  many  centuries,  cannot  be  taken  as  a  criterion  of  age ;  side  by 
side  with  such  structures  are  often  to  be  found  magnificent  and 
imposing  works,  in  which  ecclesiastical  architecture  has  attained  a 
relatively  high  degree  of  perfection.  It  would  be  natural  to  seek 
for  the  original  type  in  the  basilicas  of  those  cemeteries  which  were 
early  neglected  and  covered  with  debris,  as  for  instance  in  the 
Basilica  of  St.  Symphorosa  on  the  Via  Tiburtina  (Fig.  n),  recently 
excavated,  in  that  of  St.  Generosa  on  the  Via  Portuensis,  and  of 
St.  Petronilla  on  the  Via  Ardeatina,  the  first  two  of  which  examples 
have  piers,  the  last  columns,  in  the  interior.  But  the  peculiarities 
of  these  buildings  must  rather  be  ascribed  to  the  influence  of  earlier 


22  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE. 

edifices  occupying  their  sites,  to  other  local  considerations,  and  to 
a  general  poverty-stricken  and  hasty  construction,  than  regarded  as 
definite  indices  of  an  architectural  development.  Among  the  idio- 
syncrasies thus  explicable  may  be  mentioned  the  appearance  of  an 
apse  upon  the  long  side  of  the  Basilica  of  St.  Generosa,  and  the 
trapezoidal  plan  of  the  body  of  the  church  in  the  Basilica  of  St. 
Petronilla.  Of  the  better  known  cemeterial  basilicas  near  Rome 
only  the  older  part  of  S.  Lorenzo  fuori  le  mura,  with  its  two-storied 
side  aisles,  and  the  general  disposition  of  S.  Agnese,  are  to  be  as- 
cribed to  the  first  construction,  so  that  these  two  churches  are  not, 
in  other  respects,  at  least,  important  illustrations  of  primitive  forms. 
The  larger  basilicas  of  the  city  itself  are  thus  the  most  noteworthy 
landmarks  of  this  phase  of  architectural  history,  and,  unfortunately, 
the  more  ancient  of  these,  which  were  founded  during  the  reign  of 
Constantine  or  soon  after,  have  either  been  torn  down  and  recon- 
structed, or  otherwise  totally  changed  in  appearance.  Such  are  S. 
Pietro  in  Vaticano  and  S.  Giovanni  in  Laterano,  S.  Paolo  fuori  le 
mura  and  S.  Maria  Maggiore  in  Rome,  as  well  as  the  Church  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre  in  Jerusalem,  the  Church  of  the  Nativity  in  Bethle- 
hem, the  Basilica  of  Tyre,  the  Church  of  St.  Irene  in  Constantinople, 
and  a  few  others.  In  order  to  complete  the  picture,  we  are  hence 
obliged  to  admit  much  later  edifices  to  our  consideration. 

The  early  basilicas  were  commonly  so  oriented  that  the  entrance 
was  upon  the  east  side.  A  rectangular  court,  called  the  aithrion, 
aula,  mesaulion,  or  atrium,  was  built  before  them,  the  front  of  this 
being  formed  by  a  portico :  the  vestibulum,  or  outer  narthex.  The 
atrium  itself  was  a  peristyle  of  approximately  square  plan.  In  the 
centre  of  the  court  thus  surrounded  by  colonnades  was  a  fountain, 
known  as  the  p Male  or  cant/tarns,  which  was  used  for  washing,  or  at 
least  for  wetting  the  hands  before  entering  the  sacred  edifice.  In 
some  few  cases  a  baptistery  was  included  in  the  atrium,  as  will  be 
explained  later  on.  After  the  sixth  century  the  enclosed  space 
was  used  as  a  burial-ground,  and  from  this  time  was  also  known  as 
the  paradisus — or  as  the  hortus  or  cepotaphium,  in  reference  to  the 
trees  and  bushes  with  which  the  grounds  were  planted,  as  is  the 
custom  at  the  present  day  in  our  church-yards  and  cemeteries.  In 
its  fundamental  character  the  atrium  is  analogous  to  the  outer 


TYPICAL   BASILICAS.  23 

court  of  Solomon's  Temple  and  to  the  Latin  templum ;  its  form, 
however,  is  certainly  derived  from  the  private  basilica  of  the  Ro- 
man dwelling,  which  was,  in  this  respect  also,  the  prototype  of  the 
early  Christian  church.  It  is  the  original  atrium  or  peristyle  of 
the  ancient  house,  the  great  antechamber  of  all  the  living  rooms, 
which,  for  ritualistic  purposes,  was  freed  with  the  basilica  from  the 
surrounding  complex.  Few  of  the  early  basilicas  now  known  are 
provided  with  an  atrium  ;  in  Rome  there  is  but  a  single  example, 
that  of  S.  Clemente,  and  the  superstructure  of  this  was  not  built 
until  towards  the  close  of  the  ninth  century  (872-882).  (Fig.  13.) 


Fig.  12. — Plan  of  the  Original  Church  of  St.  Peter  in  Rome. 

It  may  hence  be  assumed  that,  in  Rome  at  least,  this  addition  of 
an  atrium  was  exceptional ;  it  was  generally  found  sufficient  to 
build  before  the  front  of  the  church  a  court  (pronaos,  propyld), 
which  extended  across  the  entire  width  of  the  facade,  or  appeared 
as  a  portico  supported  upon  two  or  four  columns.  This  court  or 
portico  was  known  as  the  narthex.  When  to  an  atrium  there  was 
added  a  transverse  colonnade,  before  or  inside  the  basilica,  this  was 
called  the  inner  narthex.  Having  entered  the  portal  of  the  basilica 
itself,  the  visitor  found  himself  upon  the  small  side  of  an  oblong 
space,  the  farther  end  of  which  was  extended  by  an  apse.  In  rare 


24  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE. 

cases  there  was  only  one  nave,  without  columns,  as  at  Rome  in 
S.  S.  Cosma  e  Damiano  and  in  S.  Balbina.  The  usual  form  of  the 
basilica  was  three -aisled,  being  divided  by  two  rows  of  columns 
extending  along  its  length.  The  more  magnificent  edifices  of  this 
class  were  often  five -aisled,  like  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  at  Rome 


-COT 


Fig.  13.— Plan  of  S.  Clemente  in  Rome. 

(Figs.  12  and  14),  and  the  churches  of  Constantine  at  Jerusalem 
and  Bethlehem.  The  number  of  aisles,  however,  was  not  always 
determined  by  the  size  of  the  building:  instance  the  grand  Basilica 
Liberiana  (Maria  Maggiore),  in  Rome,  which  has  only  three  aisles, 
while  the  small  Basilica  of  St.  Reparatus  at  Orleansville  in  Algiers, 


Fig.  14. — Plan  of  S.  Paolo  fuori  le  mura,  near  Rome. 

built  in  the  year  325,  and  the  basilicas  at  Ibrim  in  Armenia,  and 
at  Sueideh  in  Central  Syria,  had  five.  Almost  without  exception 
in  Rome,  and  frequently  also  in  the  provinces,  the  columns  intro- 
duced into  the  earlier  churches  were  taken  from  ancient  monuments, 
chiefly  from  those  of  the  Corinthian  order.  In  later  times,  when 


BASILICAL  CONSTRUCTION.  25 

well-preserved  antique  columns  became  more  rare,  the  supports  for 
the  interiors  of  the  basilicas  were  taken  from  various  edifices  and 
were  often  of  different  dimensions,  so  that  barbarous  incongruities 
were  not  uncommon.  Among  the  basilicas  of  Rome,  that  of  S. 
Maria  Maggiore  is  entirely  Ionic ;  its  forty-four  magnificent  gran- 
ite columns,  with  their  entablature,  are  to  be  ascribed  to  the  con- 
struction of  Pope  Liberius  (352-366).  The  only  example  of  the 


Fi<r.  15. — View  of  the  Interior  of  S.  Pietro  in  Vincoli. 

o         » 

Roman  Doric  order  is  S.  Pietro  in  Vincoli,  dating  from  the  middle 
of  the  fifth  century.  (Fig.  15.)  Basilicas  with  piers  instead  of  col- 
umns are  not  frequently  met  with;  three  examples  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Rome  are  the  Basilicas  of  S.  Symphorosa  (Fig.  1 1)  and 
S.  Generosa,  both  attributed  to  Constantine,  and  that  of  S.  S.  Vin- 
cenzo  ed  Anastasio  alle  tre  fontane,  built  between  the  years  625 
and  638. 

The  support  for  the  wall  above  the  columns  was  at  first  the 


26  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE  ARCHITECTURE. 

straight  entablature  of  architrave,  frieze,  and  cornice,  as  it  had  been 
employed  in  the  original  private  basilicas.  This  feature  appeared 
in  the  central  aisle  of  the  Constantine  Church  of  St.  Peter,  and  in 
the  crypt  of  the  older  part  of  S.  Lorenzo  fuori  le  mura,  and  is  still 
to  be  seen  in  perfect  preservation  in  S.  Maria  Maggiore.  But  the 
drawbacks  attending  such  a  lintel  construction  were  too  great  to 
admit  of  its  retention  by  later  builders.  The  fundamental  nature 
of  the  classic  entablature,  as  representative  of  roof  and  ceiling,  ren- 
dered it  little  adapted  to  bear  the  great  weight  of  a  superimposed 
wall.  To  this  must  be  added  static  considerations  of  the  most  de- 
cisive character;  the  very  considerable  free  span  of  the  architrave, 
from  one  capital  to  another,  exposed  the  structure  to  grave  dan- 
gers, inasmuch  as  the  fracture  of  a  single  beam  would  inevitably 
result  in  the  fall  of  all  the  masonry  above  it.  In  view  of  these 
objections  the  ancient  Romans  but  rarely  placed  one  lintel  colon- 
nade above  another — as  in  the  case  of  the  oldest  basilicas,  in  the 
Septizonium,  etc. — wisely  preferring  to  adopt  a  system  of  piers  and 
arcades  for  buildings  of  several  stories,  and  to  treat  their  engaged 
columns  and  entablatures  in  relief,  as  a  mere  decoration  of  these 
massive  supports.  For  the  basilicas  the  beam  construction  had 
the  great  disadvantage  that  the  heavily  laden  entablature  made  it 
necessary  to  place  the  columns  so  closely  together  that  the  wor- 
shippers, assembled  in  the  side  aisles,  were  prevented  from  having 
a  good  view  of  the  religious  ceremony  which  was  being  performed 
at  the  end  of  the  nave.  Something  might  have  been  gained  for 
the  support  of  the  enormous  mass  of  masonry  by  introducing  the 
thickest  and  strongest  columns,  such  as  the  Doric ;  but  this  would 
not  materially  have  affected  the  relative  width  of  the  intercolum- 
niations,  which  were,  indeed,  smaller  in  the  Doric  than  in  the  other 
orders ;  moreover,  the  Doric  style,  as  an  organic  whole,  at  this 
time  no  longer  existed.  It  would  have  been  more  natural  for  the 
builders  of  the  early  churches  to  adopt,  instead  of  the  colonnades, 
the  piers  and  arcades  made  familiar,  after  the  Imperial  epoch,  by 
such  successful  structures  as  the  forensic  basilicas,  notably  that 
of  Julia,  and  by  the  theatres,  amphitheatres,  aqueduct  bridges,  etc. 
But  this  system  of  construction  appears  rarely,  and  only  in  the 
roughest  form  ;  the  piers  were  not  ornamented  with  pilasters,  en- 


BASILICAL   CONSTRUCTION.  27 

gaged  columns,  or  entablatures  in  relief,  and  the  further  develop- 
ment of  this  solution  of  the  architectural  problem  was  reserved 
for  the  period  of  the  Romanic  style.  The  taste  and  the  traditions 
of  the  early  Christians  led  them  to  prefer  the  column  which,  for  a 
thousand  years,  had  characterized  the  exterior  of  the  classic  tem- 
ples, and  was  now  considered  fit  to  maintain  a  similar  dignity  in 
an  ecclesiastical  interior. 

To  meet  in  some  measure  the  static  and  artistic  difficulties 
which  thus  arose,  the  primitive  Christian  builders  resorted  to  that 
compromise  between  a  colonnade  and  an  arcade  which  had  made 
its  appearance,  shortly  before  the  creation  of  the  first  basilicas,  in 
the  Palace  of  Diocletian  at  Spalatro.  By  adopting  a  free-standing 
shaft,  instead  of  a  pier  ornamented  with  engaged  columns,  a  rea- 
sonably secure  support  was  obtained  for  the  wall  above,  and,  what 
was  of  more  importance,  a  greater  width  of  the  intercolumniation 
immediately  resulted.  The  profile  of  the  architrave  was  retained 
in  the  mouldings  of  the  archivolt,  this  contradiction  of  the  original 
constructive  significance  of  the  member  not  being  felt  as  an  objec- 
tion at  a  time  when  the  organic  functions  of  the  columnar  style 
had  long  ceased  to  be  understood,  and  the  forms  had  become  a 
mere  decoration  of  the  arches  and  vaults  of  Roman  engineering. 
On  the  contrary,  as  long  as  it  was  desired  to  retain  the  round  shaft 
in  any  functional  importance,  and  to  keep  step  with  the  increasing 
height  of  the  Christian  interior,  there  was  no  alternative  but  to 
adopt  it  as  a  support  for  arches  instead  of  for  beams.  And  it  can- 
not be  denied  that,  compared  with  the  heavy  piers  of  Roman  archi- 
tecture, a  certain  elegance  was  thus  attained.  The  rhythmical  move- 
ment of  the  archivolts  gave  a  picturesque  variety  which  the  straight 
and  horizontal  lines  of  the  Greeks  had  avoided ;  and  the  further 
introduction  of  arches  and  vaults  in  the  ceiling  was  thus  rendered 
more  natural  and  harmonious  in  design.  It  is  to  be  observed  in 
this  connection  that  the  debasement  of  the  Greek  entablature,  and 
loss  of  the  sense  of  aesthetic  reason  in  all  columnar  architecture, 
had  long  preceded  the  basilical  era,  and  should  be  imputed  to  the 
Romans  rather  than  to  the  Christians. 

Since  it  has  become  known  that  arcades  supported  upon  col- 
umns were  employed  as  early  as  the  time  of  Diocletian,  the  inquiry 


28  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE. 

as  to  whether  they  were  introduced  into  the  Constantine  basilicas 
is  of  no  great  historical  importance.     At  all  events  the  form,  in  cer- 
tain modifications,  is  noticed  in  the  circular  edifice  of  S.  Constanza. 
The  best  example  is  perhaps  the  Basilica  of  S.  Paolo  fuori  le  mura, 
which  was  burned  in  1823,  and  is  now  almost  entirely  rebuilt;  the 
features  in  question  date,  however,  from   the  enlargement  of  the 
church  by  Valentinian  II.  (A.  D.  386).     The  arcades  of  S.  Agnese 
fuori  le  mura,  which  display  but  few  Constantine  reminiscences,  are 
not  earlier  than  the  year  686.     It  is  certain  that  a  connection  of  the 
columns  by  arches  was  early  introduced,  and  that  this  manner  of 
supporting  the  clerestory  walls  was  only  given  up  in  those  few  cases 
where  blocks  of  an  antique  entablature  were  available,  and,  by  the 
ease  with  which  they  could  be  employed,  overruled  the  better  con- 
structive principles.     Even  in  this  case  the  recognized  objections 
were  met,  as  well  as  might  be,  by  various  expedients,  avowed  or 
hidden.     An  example  of  an  openly  displayed  device  is  seen  in  the 
three  immense  arches  which  cross  the  nave  and  support  the  roof 
and  ceiling  of  the  Basilica  S.  Prassede  (Fig.  16),  built  between  the 
years  817  and  824.     A  hidden  construction  of  the  kind  exists  in  the 
same  building,  where  three  relieving  arches,  placed  above  the  en- 
tablature, transfer  the  weight  of  the  imposed  masonry  from  the  free 
span  of  the  horizontal  beam  to  the  axes  of  the  columns.    The  latter 
makeshift  is  also  evident  in  the  Basilica  S.  Maria  in  Trastevere,  but 
this  was  built  at  such  various  epochs  that  it  is  now  impossible  to 
say  whether  the  peculiarity  under  consideration  should  be  assigned 
either  to  A.  D.  224,  337,  357,  or  even  to  1 139.     In  other  cases  of  ba- 
silicas with  arches  above  the  columns  it  was  found  necessary  to  in- 
crease the  strength  of  the  supports,  as  in  S.  Maria  in  Cosmedin,  where 
the  porticos  in  question  are  probably  older  than  the  restoration  of 
772-795,  and  in  the  Basilica  of  S.  Clemente  (872-882),  in  both  of  which 
buildings  the  shafts  are  reinforced  at  certain  distances  by  broad  piers. 
There  was  generally  a  cornice  just  over  the  arches,  this  being  at 
times  surrounded  by  a  part  of  the  wall  treated  as  an  attica,  above 
which  the  masonry  was  continued  to  the  ceiling  of  the  nave  with- 
out vertical  or  horizontal  divisions,  but  pierced  by  several  round- 
arched  windows.     These  windows  commonly  agreed  in  number  and 
position  with  the  arcades  beneath  them.     The  openings  were  origi- 


BASILICAL   CONSTRUCTION. 


29 


nally  closed  by  thin  slabs  of  marble,  perforated  with  circular  holes 
in  order  to  increase  the  supply  of  light  which  could  not  have  been 
sufficiently  provided  by  even  the  most  translucent  limestone;  this 
primitive  expedient  has  only  been  preserved  in  rare  cases,  as  in  the 
older  part  of  S.  Lorenzo  and  in  S.  Vincenzo  alle  tre  fontane.  Often 
the  apertures  may  have  been  merely  closed  by  draperies.  Window- 


Fig.  16. — View  of  the  interior  of  S.  Prassede. 

glass,  although  mentioned  in  the  fourth  century  (Lactant.  de  opif. 
Dei  8),  was  seldom  used  by  the  early  Christians,  and  sheets  of  trans- 
parent stone  {fenestrae  gypseae),  were  not  much  more  common. 
Windows  of  colored  glass  were  probably  not  introduced  until  the 
ninth  century.  (Anastas  Vit.  Leon.  III.) 

Occasionally  the  side  aisles  were  doubled  by  being  made  two- 
storied  (Fig.  17),  instead  of  by  widening  the  plan  as  in  the  five-aisled 


30  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE. 

basilicas.  This  arrangement  of  a  gallery  had  been  customary  in  the 
forensic  halls,  but  appears  to  have  been  seldom  employed  in  the 
private  basilicas  of  the  ancients.  The  result  was  that  the  clerestory 
windows  were  much  elevated,  and  the  proportionate  height  of  the 
nave  increased.  Even  in  the  common  basilical  construction  the 
great  mass  of  masonry  above  the  columns  had  presented  serious 
difficulties  ;  in  the  two-storied  edifice,  although  the  height  of  the 
gallery  columns  was  reduced  as  much  as  possible,  the  disadvantages 
became  still  more  weighty.  These  static  objections,  and  the  lack 
of  unity  in  design,  more  than  counterbalanced  the  advantages  de- 
rived from  the  extended  accommodation,  and  from  the  separation 
of  the  congregation  according  to  sex  and  social  rank.  Thus,  in  the 
Occident  at  least,  the  two-storied  basilicas  were  in  all  ages  excep- 
tional; among  the  churches  of  Rome  they  are  only  met  with  in 
S.  Agnese  (Fig.  17),  the  Quattro  Coronati,  and  the  older  part  of 
S.  Lorenzo  fuori  le  mura. 

The  nave  was  terminated  by  a  gable,  the  inclination  of  which 
did  not  greatly  differ  from  that  customary  in  classic  times.  The 
roofs  above  the  side  aisles  leaned  against  the  upper  walls  of  the 
nave,  abutting  just  below  the  clerestory  windows.  The  ceiling 
appears  originally  to  have  been  sheathed  and  coffered,  but  this 
antique  manner  of  treatment  was  given  up  as  early  as  the  end  of 
the  fourth  century  (Optatus  Milevitanus),  and  the  roofing  beams 
were  openly  displayed,  the  timbers  being  more  carefully  hewn  and 
decorated  by  painting.  This  display  of  the  roof  construction  had 
at  times  been  employed  by  Greek  and  Roman  builders.  It  was 
now  made  to  appear  as  a  barbarous  debasement  (Fig.  17),  entirely 
at  variance  with  the  principles  of  classic  architecture,  by  the  omis- 
sion of  any  architrave  or  emphasized  wall  plate  as  a  support:  the 
high  wall,  undivided  by  architectural  memberment,  being  at  best 
provided  only  with  isolated  brackets  under  the  ends  of  the  chief 
beams.  With  the  exception  of  the  termination  of  the  apses  there 
is  no  appearance  of  vaulting  in  any  early  Christian  basilica.  Dis- 
tricts poorly  furnished  with  timber,  such  as  Syria,  had  ceilings 
formed  of  stone  lintels,  a  construction  which,  of  course,  greatly 
cramped  the  width  of  the  plan.  The  arcades  were  quite  incapable 
of  resisting  the  great  thrust  which  would  have  been  brought  to 


BASILICAL   CONSTRUCTION.  3! 

bear  against  them  by  a  vault  over  the  broad  nave.  Indeed,  the 
inadequate  character  of  the  columns  as  supports  led  to  a  diminu- 
tion of  the  thickness  of  the  wall  quite  at  variance  with  its  height, 
and  the  preservation,  through  so  many  centuries,  of  such  carelessly 
built  masonry  of  tufa  and  brick  is  due  rather  to  the  extraordinary 
excellence  of  the  Roman  mortar  than  to  any  wisdom  of  design. 

At  the  end  of  the  basilica  opposite  to  the  entrance  there  was 
an  enormous  arch,  not  much  less  in  width  than  the  nave  itself,  and 
generally  supported  upon  two  large  columns  standing  close  to  the 


Fig.  17. — View  of  the  Interior  of  S.  Agnese  near  Rome. 

wall.  This  was  at  first  known  as  the  triumphal  arch.  It  had  be- 
come necessary  by  the  introduction  of  an  apse  of  semicircular  plan, 
terminated  above  by  a  half  dome,  an  extension  of  the  nave  which 
had  found  its  prototypes  not  only  in  the  antique  forensic  basilica, 
where  it  had  served  as  the  seat  of  the  judges,  but  also  in  many 
Roman  temples,  such  as  that  of  Venus  and  Roma,  where  it  ap- 
peared as  a  niche  for  the  sacred  statues.  (Fig-  18.)  In  the  larger 
churches  the  apse  was  sometimes  separated  from  the  triumphal 
arch  by  an  interposed  transept,  which  in  height  and  width  was 


32  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE. 

equal  to  the  nave,  and  in  length  was  either  the  same  as  the  total 
width  of  all  the  aisles,  as,  for  instance,  in  S.  Croce  in  Gerusalemme, 
S.  Maria  Maggiore,  and  S.  Maria  in  Trastevere,  or  was  projected 
beyond  them  so  as  to  give  the  plan  of  the  entire  building  the  form 
of  a  cross,  as  in  the  old  churches  of  S.  Pietro,  S.  Paolo,  S.  Giovanni 
in  Laterano,  S.  Prassede,  etc.  Even  in  the  nave,  with  its  many 
columns,  the  lack  of  architectural  memberment  was  felt,  and  in  the 
transept  this  defect  was  still  more  apparent.  With  exception  of  a 
few  windows,  generally  arranged  to  suit  only  the  dimensions  of  the 
nave,  the  walls  of  the  transept  were  quite  bare,  so  that  their  ex- 
tended surfaces  appeared  painfully  monotonous.  The  horizontal 
ceiling  above  them  was  even  more  bald  than  in  the  body  of  the 
church.  The  apse  received  its  name  from  the  half  dome  by  which 


Fig.  1 8. — Section  of  the  Basilica  S.  Paolo,  Rome. 

it  was  terminated ;  it  was  at  first  also  called  concha,  tribuna,  exedra, 
and  chorus.  It  retained  in  great  measure  its  original  character, 
serving  as  the  seat  of  the  ecclesiastical  officers :  the  bishop  or  chief 
priest  of  the  church,  with  his  attendants,  taking  the  place  which 
the  praetor  and  his  assessors  had  occupied  in  the  forensic  basilica. 
Generally  the  apse  formed  a  projection  upon  the  exterior  of  the 
building,  and  had  a  separate  roof;  but  sometimes  it  was  enclosed 
by  other  rooms  which  presented  a  straight  facade  upon  the  rear. 
In  rare  instances,  such  as  the  Basilica  of  St.  Reparatus  in  Orleans- 
ville,  and  the  Basilica  of  Erment  in  Egypt,  these  supplementary 
spaces  were  themselves  provided  with  apses  upon  the  east  and 
west.  At  times  smaller  apses  were  built  as  terminations  of  the  side 
aisles  in  the  line  of  their  axes;  examples  of  this  arrangement  are: 


BASILICAL   CONSTRUCTION.  33 

S.  Pietro  in  Vincoli,  S.  Clemente,  S.  Maria  in  Domnica  in  Rome, 
the  Basilica  of  Bethlehem,  etc.  Architectural  details  were  sparsely 
employed  ;  even  a  moulding  at  the  impost  of  the  vault  was  ex- 
ceptional, and  the  older  apses  had  no  windows  at  all. 

The  meagre  and  monotonous  architecture  of  these  buildings 
was  greatly  helped  out  by  a  magnificent  colored  decoration.  Beau- 
tiful pavements  of  costly  and  tastefully  arranged  marble  slabs  re- 
placed the  mosaics  of  the  ancients.  The  lower  part  of  the  walls, 
especially  of  the  transept  and  the  apse,  was  reveted  with  patterned 
marbles ;  while  the  upper  part,  either  throughout,  or  at  least  upon 
the  triumphal  arch  and  in  the  apse,  was  inlaid  with  mosaics.  These 
decorations  will  be  described  in  the  chapters  on  painting.  But  the 
other  furnishings  of  the  interior  cannot,  as  in  the  case  of  those  cus- 
tomary in  the  Middle  Ages,  be  considered  under  the  head  of  sculp- 
ture. The  thrones  in  the  apse  (cathedrae]  often  display  an  orna- 
mentation in  relief,  but  the  remaining  appointments  rarely  go  be- 
yond mere  architectural  forms  and  a  simple  revetment.  This  is  the 
case  with  the  seats  (subset lid)  for  the  subordinate  priests  in  the  apse, 
with  the  plain  altar-table  (mensa)  covered  with  a  canopy  supported 
by  columns  (ciboriuni), — with  the  gratings  (cancelli)  separating  the 
presbytery,  which  often  extended  far  into  the  nave, — and,  finally, 
with  the  furnishings  of  the  ambones,  where  the  gospels  and  the 
epistles  were  read. 

The  exterior  of  the  basilica,  in  its  bareness,  long  betrayed  its 
derivation  from  a  hall  originally  enclosed  by  a  complex  of  small 
rooms,  and  planned  with  no  reference  to  its  appearance  from  with- 
out. This  simplicity  and  lack  of  decoration  was  perfectly  in  charac- 
ter with  the  contrast  to  Greek  conceptions  presented  by  the  inner 
life  and  outer  abnegation  of  Christianity.  The  concentration  of 
interest  upon  the  religious  ceremonies  carried  on  within,  allowed 
scarcely  a  thought  to  be  given  to  the  exterior  of  the  church.  The 
constructive  scheme  of  the  building  was  only  expressed  on  the  out- 
side by  the  different  heights  of  side  aisles  and  nave,  and  by  the  semi- 
cylindrical  projection  of  the  apse.  The  horizontal  ceiling  nowhere 
required  a  buttressing  of  the  walls  which  supported  it,  and  the  same 
was  the  case  with  the  half  dome  of  the  apse,  the  thrust  of  which  was 
chiefly  directed  within.  It  was  only  in  rare  instances  that  expres- 

8 


34 


EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND    BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE. 


sion  was  given  to  that  aesthetic  principle  of  all  architecture  which 
requires  the  forms  of  the  exterior  to  set  forth,  as  distinctly  as  may 
be,  the  arrangement  of  the  interior,  in  such  wise  that  a  memberment 
of  the  outer  walls  should  represent  the  inner  arcades.  Before  the 
two  basilicas  of  St.  Apollinaris  at  Ravenna,  which  are  as  late  as  the 
sixth  century,  there  was  but  a  single  example  of  walls  decorated  by 
pilaster-like  projections,  and  by  arches  in  relief,  so  as  to  form  a  kind 

of  frame  for  the  windows  (Fig.  19),  name- 
ly, the  Basilica  Pudenziana  in  Rome,  the 
present  disposition  of  which  dates  back 
to  the  fourth  century.  Generally  the 
masonry  was  carried  up  in  perfectly  un- 
broken surfaces,  and  the  cornices  were 
made  in  the  simplest  possible  fashion. 
The  spoils  of  classic  monuments,  which 
often  served  to  enrich  the  interior,  were 
never  utilized  for  the  facades.  The  Chris- 
tian builders  were  incapable  of  introduc- 
ing original  features  in  place  of  the  an- 
cient architectural  garb  which  they  re- 
jected, and  took  refuge  in  childish  tricks 
of  bricklaying,  placing  the  bricks  diago- 
nally, leaning  them  together  so  as  to  form 
triangles,  etc.  Not  unfrequently  they 
even  placed  the  roof  upon  the  bare  wall, 

without  any  intermediate  cornice,  as  had  been  done  with  the  ceil- 
ing in  the  interior;  poverty  of  ideas  and  roughness  of  execution 
could  go  no  further. 

In  this  epoch  there  were  but  few  and  tentative  beginnings  of 
the  tower  building  which  was  destined  to  play  so  important  a  part 
in  later  Christian  ages.  The  oldest  structures  of  the  kind,  those  of 
Ravenna,  were  all  erected  after  the  sixth  century,  unless  an  excep- 
tion be  made  in  favor  of  the  Campanile  of  S.  Francesco  in  that  city, 
which  Hiibsch  assumes  to  be  as  old  as  the  fifth  century.  The 
towers  were  isolated  from  the  basilicas,  with  the  ground -plan  of 
which  they  stood  in  no  connection.  It  is  uncertain  whether  the 
square  or  the  round  variety  is  the  more  primitive;  the  former  is 


Fig.  19. — View  of  a  Part  of  the 
Basilica  of  S.  Appolinare  'in 
Classe. 


BELFRIES   AND   INTERIOR   DECORATIONS.  35 

met  with  in  the  before -mentioned  Campanile,  examples  of  the 
latter  are,  the  towers  of  the  Cathedral  and  the  Basilica  of  S.  Apol- 
linare  in  Classe.  In  towers  of  square  plan  the  thickening  of  the 
corners  by  vertical  bands  was  a  decoration  which  naturally  resulted 
from  the  construction  ;  in  the  round  ones  the  memberment  was 
limited  to  horizontal  cornices  and  to  a  few  small  windows  which 
served  to  light  the  staircase  within.  The  belfry  was  formed  by 
groups  of  round-arched  windows,  and  above  this  the  roof  was  car- 
ried up  in  pyramidal  or  conical  shape.  The  simple  pile  thus  result- 
ing agreed  well  with  the  unpretentious  exterior  of  the  early  Chris- 
tian basilica. 

Notwithstanding  its  extreme  bareness  the  appearance  of  the 
church  from  without  maintained  a  certain  dignity  and  even  gran- 
deur. The  numerous  and  rather  insignificant  windows,  and  the 
low  side  aisles,  by  determining  a  comparatively  small  scale,  caused 
the  dimensions  of  the  entire  building  to  appear  larger  than  they 
really  were.  This  was  the  case,  even  in  a  more  marked  degree, 
with  the  interior,  which  was  similarly  influenced  by  the  many  and 
proportionately  lowr  columns.  The  view  along  the  nave,  bordered 
by  two  or  four  ranges  of  shafts,  was  varied  and  impressive,  and  its 
total  length  was  effectively  increased  by  the  vaulted  apse  of  curved 
plan.  It  would  be  difficult  to  conceive  of  a  more  successful  arrange- 
ment than  the  combination  of  nave,  side  aisles,  and  apse  for  provid- 
ing so  extended  a  hall  of  assemblage,  and  for  emphasizing  the  site 
of  the  altar  where  religious  ceremonies  were  performed.  Antique 
architecture  presents  no  example  of  a  better  solution  of  this  prob- 
lem. The  classic  temple  was  developed  chiefly  upon  the  exterior; 
and  while  it  amply  sufficed  as  a  shrine  for  a  sacred  statue  and  as 
a  repository  for  votive  offerings,  would  have  been  entirely  unsuited 
to  Christian  rites,  which  required  a  gathering  of  the  entire  congre- 
gation under  one  roof. 

In  principle  this  architectural  solution  was  simple;  in  execution 
it  was  often  rich  and  even  lavish.  In  the  five-aisled  basilicas  a  forest 
of  columns,  of  granite  or  of  costly  marbles,  almost  entirely  hid  the 
plain  walls  of  the  side  aisles.  The  clerestory,  the  triumphal  arch, 
and  the  apse  were  incrusted  with  bright  colors,  gilding,  and  mosaics, 
so  that  here  also  the  lack  of  architectural  memberment  was  little 


36  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND    BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE. 

felt.  And  the  ceilings,  whether  horizontally  sheathed  and  coffered, 
or  open  to  the  beams  of  the  roof,  were  generally  carved  and  deco- 
rated with  colors  and  gold.  The  bare  monotony  of  the  walls  and 
mouldings  is  only  felt  to-day  because  the  original  paintings  and 
mosaics  have  become  effaced,  or  have  entirely  disappeared.  Even 
in  such  a  state  the  early  basilicas  still  make  a  noble  and  harmonious 
impression,  and  fully  convince  us  that  the  choice  of  this  form  was 
eminently  fortunate,  and  worthy  of  retention  and  development  for 
more  than  a  thousand  years. 

Although  the  basilica  is  by  far  the  most  important  product  of 
early  Christian  architecture  in  Western  Europe,  buildings  of  other 
classes  yet  remain  to  claim  our  attention.  The  transformation  of 
antique  temples  to  suit  Christian  requirements  hardly  deserves  con- 
sideration in  this  connection,  common  as  a  rehabilitation  of  the  kind 
was,  for  but  little  original  work  was  thereby  introduced.  In  refer- 
ence to  such  adaptations  it  has  become  the  fashion  (G.  B.  de  Rossi) 
to  maintain  that  the  Christian  emperors  were  wisely  desirous  of 
preventing  the  destruction  of  the  temples  of  the  ancients;  but  this 
preservation  was,  in  reality,  rather  owing  to  an  interference  with 
selfish  abuse  of  the  buildings  and  their  materials  by  individuals, 
than  to  any  real  respect  for  them  as  monuments  of  art.  It  is  true 
that  Constantine  only  demolished  those  fanes  which  had  become 
renowned  as  centres  of  primitive  religious  observances,  and  that  his 
immediate  successors  did  little  more  than  proscribe  Pagan  sacrifices; 
but  as  early  as  the  time  of  Honorius,  in  the  year  399,  it  was  ordered 
that  all  the  temples  in  the  country  should  be  destroyed,  and  only 
those  in  large  towns  be  suffered  to  remain,  "as  civic  ornaments." 
This  decree  was  renewed  by  Theodosius  (A. 0.426)  in  these  words: 
"All  Pagan  temples  still  remaining  in  perfect  preservation  are  to  be 
destroyed,  or  consecrated  by  the  sign  of  the  cross."  It  was  certainly 
a  great  exception  when  the  same  Emperor  permitted  the  Temple 
at  Osdrcene  to  stand,  and  commanded  the  statues  of  the  deities 
which  were  in  it  to  be  considered  rather  according  to  their  value  as 
works  of  art  than  as  religious  symbols.  It  is  not  clear  how  literally 
these  indefinite  and  often  contradictory  ordinances  were  carried  into 
effect;  but  it  is  probable  that  the  demolition  was  entered  upon 
willingly  enough  by  the  Christians,  who  could  thus  obtain  the  valu- 


ANTIQUE   CIRCULAR   EDIFICES.  37 

able  materials  used  for  their  basilicas  and  other  public  edifices,  and 
even  for  their  private  dwellings.  By  constant  employment  of  an- 
cient columns,  entablatures,  and  other  members,  the  power  of  inde- 
pendent design  had  become  almost  entirely  lost  to  the  Christian 
stone-cutters.  The  squared  blocks,  so  easily  acquired  by  the  de- 
struction of  ancient  edifices,  were  hardly  less  welcome,  while  the 
fragments  of  marble  not  thus  employed  found  their  way  into  the 
lime -kilns.  It  is  true,  the  preservation  of  the  temples  from  ruin 
would  have  been  a  matter  of  considerable  care  and  expense,  an 
exertion  which  the  early  Christians  were  not  likely  to  make  except 
in  the  case  of  those  sanctuaries  which  had  been  consecrated  to  the 
new  faith.  The  words  of  St. 'Augustine  (Ep.  154),  in  which  it  is 
declared  to  be  praiseworthy  "that  Pagan  temples  should  be  made 
serviceable  to  the  public  and  to  the  honor  of  the  true  God,"  may 
with  quite  as  much  probability  be  interpreted  as  a  recommendation 
to  use  the  overthrown  stones  for  the  construction  of  churches,  as  to 
counsel  the  preservation  and  consecration  of  the  structures  them- 
selves. 

Far  more  important  was  a  class  of  buildings  destined,  in  later 
times,  to  be  developed  into  a  new  style  of  architecture,  namely 
the  circular  and  polygonal  edifices  which  served  as  baptisteries  and 
mortuary  chapels.*  For  these,  also,  classic  models  were  not  lack- 
ing :  the  baptisteries  were  analogous  to  the  round  and  vaulted  halls 
of  the  Roman  baths,  and  the  churches  of  circular  plan  to  certain 
forms  of  antique  funeral  monuments,  the  general  nature  of  their 
employment  thus  remaining  unchanged.  Cylindrical  spaces,  both 
vaulted  and  timber-roofed,  had  been  frequently  used  by  the  ancients 
for  religious  purposes;  but  the  influence  of  the  round  and  columned 
temples,  such  as  those  of  Rome  and  Tivoli,  was  but  little  felt  by 


*  F.  A.  Quast,  Die  altchristlichen  Bauwerke  zu  Ravenna  vom  5. -6.  Jahrhundert. 
Berlin,  1842.  — W.  Salzenberg,  Altchristliche  Baudenkmale  von  Constantinopel  vom  5.- 
12.  Jahrhundert.  Berlin,  1854. — Ch.  Texier  and  Popplewell  -  Pullan,  Byzantine  Archi- 
tecture. London,  1863. — H.  Hu'bsch,  Die  altchristlichen  Kirchen.  Karlsruhe,  1863. — R. 
Rahn,  Ueber  den  Ursprung  und  die  Entwickelung  des  altchristlichen  Central-  und  Kup- 
pelbaues.  Leipzig,  1860.  The  same,  Ein  Besuch  in  Ravenna,  Jahrbttcher  der  Kunst- 
wissenschaft.  Leipzig,  1868.  Separate  reprint.  Leipzig,  1869. — D.  Pulgher,  Les  anciennes 
eglises  Byzantines  de  Constantinople.  Vienne,  1878. 


38  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE. 

the  Christian  builders.  The  comparison  of  the  monopteros  with 
the  circular  church,  like  that  of  the  oblong  peripteros  with  the  ba- 
silica, offers  little  but  contrasts.  The  principal  development  of  the 
pagan  temple  was  always  upon  the  exterior,  while  the  ecclesias- 
tical edifices  constantly  tended  to  an  extension  of  the  plan  and 
ornamentation  of  the  interior.  This  extension  was  effected  by 
increasing  the  entire  area,  and  by  emphasizing  the  semicircular 
niches  added  to  the  cylinder,  as  well  as  by  transferring  the  colon- 
nade from  without  to  within. 

It  cannot  indeed  be  proved  that  the  enlargement  of  the  edifice 
by  such  niches  was  a  recognized  expedient  as  early  as  the  time  of 


Fig.  20. — Cupolas  of  the  late  Roman  Epoch. 
a.  So-called  Temple  of  Jupiter  b.  Hall  of  the  Baths  of  Caracalla.          c.  So-called  Temple  of  Romulus 


at  Spalatro. 


on  the  Via  Appia. 


the  Diadochi ;  but  it  is  reasonable  to  assume  with  Adler  that  the 
Pantheon  of  Agrippa  was  the  perfected  result  of  a  long  series  of 
architectural  experiments,  and  not  the  first  application  of  so  great 
a  constructive  system.  The  principle  so  nobly  expressed  in  the 
Pantheon  appears  afterwards  in  other  round  temples,  like  that  of 
Romulus  on  the  Via  Appia;  and  that  of  Jupiter  in  the  Palace  of 
Diocletian  at  Salona.  As  might  be  expected  from  the  original 
destination  of  the  Pantheon  as  a  caldarium,  we  find  the  same  gen- 
eral design  in  several  thermae,  among  others  in  the  Baths  of  An- 
toninus Caracalla,  where  the  niches  pierced  the  enclosing  walls  of 
the  structure,  and  reduced  the  masonry  left  between  them  to  free- 
standing piers.  (Fig.  20  b}.  The  effect  of  this  last  change  was 


ANTIQUE   CIRCULAR   EDIFICES. 


39 


rather  to  open  than  to  extend  the  enclosed  space ;  but  this  could 
be  easily  altered  by  closing  the  apertures  with  semicircular  apses, 
as  exemplified  in  the  Roman  building  called  in  the  Middle  Ages 
the  Terme  di  Galuccio,  and  in  modern  times  the  Temple  of  Mi- 
nerva Medica.  (Fig.  21.)  In  the  Temple  of  Jupiter  at  Spalatro 
(Fig.  20  a)  the  circular  plan  had  been  transformed  on  the  exterior 
to  an  octagon;  in  the  Temple  of  Minerva  Medica  a  polygon  ap- 
pears upon  the  inside  also,  the  walls  being  divided  into  ten  piers, 
connected  by  arches  supporting  the  decagonal  superstructure.  The 


Fig.  21. — So-called  Temple  of  Minerva  Medica. 

spaces  between  the  piers  are  closed  by  apses  which  form  semicir- 
cular projections  upon  the  exterior,  and  considerably  augment  the 
area  of  the  enclosure.  The  ten-sided  drum  is  joined  with  the  hemi- 
spherical vault  in  such  a  manner  that  the  straight-lined  walls  inter- 
sect with  the  cupola,  thus  forming  ten  segments  around  its  base. 

The  funeral  monuments  of  circular  plan  were  similarly  provided 
with  niches,  these  proving  particularly  advantageous  as  receptacles 
for  sarcophagi.  Instances  are  the  so-called  Temple  of  Romulus  on 
the  Via  Appia  (Fig.  20  c],  and  notably  the  Tomb  of  Helena,  the 


40  EARLY    CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE. 

mother  of  Constantine,  now  known  as  the  Torre  pignattara,  near 
the  Porta  Maggiore,  in  which  the  massive  cylindrical  wall  is  pro- 
vided upon  the  interior  with  eight  niches,  alternately  of  rectangu- 
lar and  of  circular  plan.  Both  of  these  buildings  are  similar  in 
character  to  the  Pantheon,  the  exterior  resemblance  being  increased 
in  the  latter  instance  by  a  portico.  In  early  Christian  churches  the 
extension  of  the  circular  plan  by  apses  was  by  no  means  uncom- 
mon, as  is  proved  by  the  Church  of  St.  George  at  Thessalonica, 
the  two  round  chapels  near  St.  Peter's  in  Rome,  the  octagon  of  St. 
Aquilinus  near  S.  Lorenzo  in  Milan,  and  others.  But  in  general 
the  space  required  by  the  congregations  was  so  great  that  a  mere 
enlargement  by  niches  was  not  sufficient.  It  therefore  became 
necessary  to  transform  the  cylinder,  which  bore  the  cupola,  from  a 
continuous  wall  to  isolated  supports,  as  had  been  done  in  the  Baths 
of  Caracalla,  and  furthermore  to  adopt,  instead  of  apses  like  those 
of  the  Temple  of  Minerva  Medica,  a  concentric  passage  outside  of 
these  supports.  The  enclosed  area  was  thus  more  than  doubled. 
The  oldest  examples  of  this  kind  are :  a  church  on  the  Via  Nomen- 
tana  near  Rome,  built  to  receive  the  body  of  Constantia,  daughter 
of  Constantine,  who  died  in  the  year  354,  and  the  Baptistery  of  the 
Lateran,  which  was  probably  erected  about  the  same  time.  In  the 
former  (Fig.  22),  the  dome  is  supported  by  twenty- four  columns, 
coupled  two  and  two,  and  placed  radially.  Twelve  short  entabla- 
tures provide  sufficient  imposts  for  the  "  loop-hole  "  arches,  which 
are  of  course  larger  in  diameter  without  than  within.  Above  them 
is  a  cylindrical  drum  perforated  with  windows.  The  semicircular 
vault,  similar  to  that  of  the  Temple  of  Minerva  Medica,  is  a  con- 
struction of  brick  ribs  filled  in  with  a  casting  of  cement.  The  sur- 
rounding passage  is  covered  with  a  barrel  vault  rising  to  only  half 
the  height  of  the  cupola.  A  curious  retention  of  former  construct- 
ive methods  is  noticeable  in  the  unnecessary  thickness  of  the  circu- 
lar enclosing  wall,  which  here  stood  in  no  connection  whatever  with 
the  dome.  A  kind  of  pronaos  was  attached  to  the  edifice. 

The  construction  of  the  Baptistery  of  the  Lateran  (Fig.  23)  dis- 
plays less  ingenuity,  but  is  interesting  because  of  a  direct  adaptation 
of  the  columnar  system  of  the  basilica  to  a  concentric  plan.  The 
inner  octagon  is  upheld  by  eight  simple  shafts,  upon  the  straight 


S.  CONSTANZA.— BAPTISTERY   OF   THE   LATERAN.  41 

entablature  of  which  a  second  story  of  columns  is  superimposed. 
The  original  character  of  the  ceiling  and  the  roof  is  not  now  to  be 
determined,  but  the  weak  supports  were  hardly  adapted  to  bear  a 
vault  of  masonry.  The  portico,  with  its  two  beautiful  columns  of 


Fig.  22. — Plan  and  Section  of  S.  Constanza  in  Rome. 

porphyry,  is  part  of  the  first  construction,  and  so  also  is  the  baptis- 
mal font  in  the  centre  of  this  comparatively  small  edifice.  Al- 
though baptisteries  and  mortuary  chapels  were  generally  built  as 
simple  cylindrical  halls,  without  surrounding  passages,  other  exam- 
ples of  the  two  modes  of  extension  above  described  are  not  lacking. 


42  EARLY   CHRISTIAN    AND   BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE. 

The  Baptistery  of  S.  Maria  rotondo  at  Nocera  near  Naples  is  similar 
to  the  Church  of  S.  Costanza,  differing  only  in  that  its  cupola  is  not 
elevated  upon  a  wall,  but  springs  directly  from  the  archivolts,  so 
that  the  roof  of  the  central  space  rises  but  little  above  the  lower 
lean-to  roof.  The  principal  church  of  Antioch  is  even  more  closely 
related  to  the  Baptistery  of  the  Lateran.  This  octagonal  structure 


20  M Ir. 


Fig.  23.— Plan  and  Section  of  the  Baptistery  of  the  Lateran. 

can  hardly  be  considered  as  the  architectural  prototype  of  S.  Lo- 
renzo in  Milan;  it  may  better  be  compared  to  the  six-columnec 
Baptistery  of  Aquileja,  and   to  the   somewhat  more  recent  eight- 
columned  Baptistery  of  the  Cathedral  at  Novara.    The  combinatu 
of  the  basilical  columnar  system  with  a  central  plan,  as  in  the  Bap- 
tistery of  the  Lateran,  attains  its  greatest  size  in  S.  Stefano  rotondo 
in  Rome,  built  by  Pope    Simplicius  (A.D.  468-483)-      ^tead 
two  stories  we  here  meet  with  a  duplication  of  the  concentric  pas- 


CONCENTRIC   EDIFICES.  43 

sages:  an  extension  based  upon  the  same  principle  as  the  repetition 
of  the  side  aisles  in  the  larger  basilicas.  Twenty  Ionic  columns 
surround  the  central  space.  This,  although  cramped  in  comparison 
with  the  entire  edifice,  is  still  so  great  in  diameter  that  the  horizon- 
tal ceiling  could  not  be  constructed  without  the  introduction  of 
two  intermediate  supports,  which  appear  in  every  way  a  disfigure- 
ment to  the  plan.  The  encircling  passages  are  divided  by  columns 
and  piers  placed  radially,  an  inorganic  and  ugly  arrangement  that, 
from  the  first,  disturbed  the  unity  of  an  interior  which,  in  later 
times,  has  suffered  greatly  from  restorations.  The  Mosque  of 
Omar  at  Bethlehem,  dated  by  recent  authorities  to  the  age  of  Con- 
stantine,  shows  a  far  better  solution  of  the  constructive  problem 


; —         $ r.  no. 

Fig.  24. — Baptistery  near  the  Basilica  Fig.  25. — Baptistery  near  S.  Teo- 

of  S.  Ursiana,  in  Ravenna.  doro  in  Ravenna. 

which  occasioned  these  difficulties.     It  is  true,  this  building  is  of 
somewhat  smaller  dimensions. 

The  transformation  of  the  circular  plan  to  a  decagon  and  an 
octagon  naturally  led  to  an  important  change  in  the  design,  by 
which  the  building  was  made  to  appear  as  a  square  upon  the  ex- 
terior, an  eight-sided  interior  being  the  result  of  thickening  certain 
parts  of  the  masonry.  At  first  the  four  corners  were  taken  up  by 
apses,  the  vaulting  of  which  formed  the  transition  from  the  square 
substructure  to  an  octagonal  upper  wall.  Examples  of  this  dispo- 
sition are,  the  Baptistery  of  the  Cathedral  at  Naples,  and  notably 
two  Baptisteries  at  Ravenna:  that  of  the  Orthodox  Community 
near  the  Basilica  S.  Ursiana,  built  about  the  year  425,  and  that  of 
the  Arians,  near  S.  Teodoro,  referrable  to  the  first  half  of  the  sixth 


44 


EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE. 


century.  (Figs.  24  and  25.)  The  peculiar  advantages  of  the  cupola 
above  a  rectangular  plan  became  evident  when  the  square  walls  of 
these  structures  were  transformed  to  isolated  supports,  as  had  already 
been  effected  in  the  octagonal  and  decagonal  edifices.  The  dome 
was  thus  made  to  rest  upon  four  piers  connected  by  semicircular 
arches,  and  it  was  possible  to  extend  the  vaulted  space  upon  all 


Fig.  26. — View  of  the  Inte 


the  Mortuary  Chapel  of  Galla  Placidia  (SS.  Nazaro  e 
Celso)  in  Ravenna. 


sides.  This  was  done  both  by  niches,  such  as  had  already  appeared 
in  the  Confessiones  of  the  Cemeteries  built  before  the  time  of  Con- 
stantine  (Fig.  9),  and  more  successfully,  by  enlarging  the  entire  plan 
to  the  form  of  a  cross,  the  soffits  of  the  four  main  arches  being 
continued  as  barrel  vaults. 

It  is  more  than  doubtful  whether  this  great  advance  had  ap- 


45 

peared  in  the  Constantine  Church  of  the  Apostles  in  Constanti- 
nople. The  plan  of  the  building  was,  it  is  true,  in  the  form  of  a 
Greek  cross,  but  this  does  not  necessarily  assure  the  existence  of 
vaults  over  the  nave  and  transepts ;  and  the  statement  that  the  in- 
terior was  provided  with  ranges  of  columns,  as  were  the  ordinary 
basilicas,  may  almost  be  taken  as  a  proof  to  the  contrary.  The 
Church  of  the  Apostles  was  long  used  as  a  place  of  interment  for 
the  imperial  family,  and  hence  it  is  not  improbable  that  the  general 
form  of  its  plan  may  have  determined  that  of  the  mortuary  chapel, 
(S.  S.  Nazaro  e  Celso),  built  at  Ravenna,  about  the  middle  of  the 


Fig.  27. — View  of  the  Exterior  of  the  Chapel  of  Galla  Placidia. 

fifth  century,  by  the  Empress  Galla  Placidia,  whose  tastes  must  have 
been  influenced  by  her  Byzantine  education  (Figs.  26  and  27).  At 
all  events  this  chapel  is  the  first  accurately  dated  example  of  the 
important  construction  before  described.  In  it  the  circular  base  of 
the  hemisphere  was  not  planned  to  lie  within  the  central  square, 
but  without,  so  that  the  diameter  of  the  dome  is  only  complete  in 
the  diagonal,  the  four  chief  arches  being  made  to  support  vertical 
walls  intersecting  with  the  vault.  If  the  ceilings  of  the  Confes- 
siones  above  the  Catacombs  of  Calixtus  were  really  provided  with 


46  EARLY   CHRISTIAN- AND   BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE. 

domes,  the  advance  made  in  the  Chapel  of  Galla  Placidia  is  re- 
stricted to  the  introduction  of  rectangular  and  barrel  vaulted  nave 
and  transept  in  place  of  the  original  apses.  But  the  innovation, 
even  if  no  more  than  this,  was  one  of  signal  importance,  and  exer- 
cised a  decisive  influence  upon  Byzantine  architecture. 

The  mortuary  chapels  of  Constantia  in  Rome  and  of  Galla 
Placidia  in  Ravenna  are  the  prototypes  of  the  two  chief  systems  of 
design  employed  in  Byzantine  ecclesiastical  edifices.  The  first, 
based  in  principle  upon  the  hemispherically  vaulted  halls  of  the 
baths  and  funeral  monuments  of  the  ancient  Romans,  results  in 
the  extension  of  the  central  space  by  a  concentric  passage.  The 
second,  which  applied  to  buildings  of  square  plan  a  constructive 
scheme  previously  restricted  to  polygons,  developed  the  subsidiary 
niches  into  extended  wings  of  independent  architectural  signifi- 
cance, and  determined  the  oblong,  or  cruciform  plan, — so  universal 
in  the  Byzantine  period.  If  the  before -mentioned  hypothesis  of 
the  Alexandrian  origin  of  such  vaulted  halls  as  the  Pantheon  of 
Agrippa  be  left  out  of  the  question,  it  may  be  broadly  asserted 
that  the  beginnings  of  both  these  arrangements  are  Occidental. 
Their  further  development,  however,  is  almost  entirely  Oriental. 
The  example  of  S.  Stefano  rotondo  at  Rome,  where  the  basilical 
principles  are  retained  in  an  architectural  relation  to  which  they  are 
not  at  all  adapted,  clearly  shows  the  inability  of  western  builders  to 
deal  with  an  extended  concentric  design.  After  the  fall  of  the 
Western  Empire,  Rome  remained,  for  nearly  a  thousand  years,  un- 
productive. As  early  as  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century  it  was  sur- 
passed in  artistic  creation  by  the  previously  unimportant  city  of 
Ravenna,  which,  having  become  the  residence  of  the  rulers  of  Italy, 
was  brought  into  close  relations  with  Constantinople  and  the 
Levant. 

The  removal  of  the  imperial  residence  from  Rome  to  Byzantium 
by  Constantine,  in  the  year  326,  rendered  a  division  between  the 
civilization  of  the  Eastern  and  Western  Empire  inevitable.  During 
the  fourth  century  the  differences  were  little  felt ;  but  at  the  time 
when  Arcadius  and  Honorius,  the  sons  of  Theodosius,  determined 
the  boundaries  of  their  realms,  the  separation  of  the  Orient  and  Oc- 
cident had  become  definite.  The  ancient  inheritance  had  fallen 


CULTURE   OF   THE   EASTERN   EMPIRE.  47 

into  very  different  hands.  While  the  tendency  of  the  Germanic 
barbarians  of  the  North  was  rather  to  disintegrate  than  to  promote 
Western  civilization,  the  Oriental  influence,  always  present  in  the 
Eastern  Empire,  steadily  continued  to  modify  the  character  of 
Graeco-Roman  culture  and  art.  As  had  been  the  case  a  thousand 
years  before,  the  Greeks  were  .brought  into  contact  with  the  repre- 
sentatives of  primitive  Asiatic  civilizations  on  the  shores  of  the  Bos- 
porus. But  this  contact  was  far  from  becoming  as  fruitful  as  it 
had  been  in  earlier  times;  from  the  union  of  Roman  enervation  with 
Oriental  languor  nothing  could  be  born  but  the  long  decrepitude  of 
Byzantine  Christianity.  The  experience  of  old  age  was  not  entire- 
ly lacking,  but  the  occasional  arousing  to  important  tasks  was  only 
followed  by  greater  weakness. 

At  first  all  circumstances  seemed  to  favor  the  combination  of 
European  and  Asiatic  ideas.  The  power  of  the  emperors,  as  estab- 
lished by  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century,  represented  the  prin- 
ciples of  Oriental  despotism  ;  'and  Christianity  was  similar  in  many 
important  respects  to  the  Oriental  religions  from  which  it  had  been 
developed.  Asiatic  and  Roman  customs  and  conceptions  were  read- 
ily interchanged,  and  there  was  no  disturbance  through  such  incom- 
patibilities as  were  becoming  more  and  more  felt  in  the  West.  But 
the  trunk  was  too  rotten  and  the  graft  too  degenerate  to  bring 
forth  a  fair  fruit.  The  evil  qualities  of  Oriental  society  are  evident 
throughout :  luxury,  despotism,  a  superstitious  religion,  and  a  slavish 
obedience  to  temporal  powers.  Both  Court  and  Church  were  Orien- 
talized, and  the  most  noteworthy  artistic  achievements  were  made 
in  the  service  of  that  love  of  display  peculiar  to  both.  It  is  not  sur- 
prising that,  under  such  circumstances,  the  more  important  tasks  fell 
to  the  share  of  architecture,  but  it  was  hardly  to  be  expected  that 
they  could  have  been  dealt  with  so  successfully. 

When  Constantine  built  his  new  capital  all  the  arts  were  still 
Roman.  The  larger  churches  of  Constantinople  were,  without  ex- 
ception, basilicas,  and  this  form  was  prevalent  also  in  the  Asiatic 
and  African  provinces.  Circular  edifices  at  this  time  were  as  rare 
in  the  Orient  as  in  the  Occident.  The  Rotunda  over  the  Holy 
Sepulchre,  the  Chapel  of  the  Ascension  at  Jerusalem,  St.  George  in 
Thessalonica,  and  the  round  churches  of  Derba  and  Heliopolis  are 


48  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE. 

indeed  among  them  ;  but  of  these  the  three  last  were  probably  built 
after  the  age  of  Constantine.  The  octagonal  Church  of  Antioch, 
before  referred  to,  appears  to  have  been  of  a  rude  and  primitive 
construction,  and  the  eight-sided  edifice  built  by  the  father  of  Greg- 
ory of  Nazianzos  in  his  native  city,  during  the  second  half  of  the 
fourth  century,  can  hardly  have  been  more  important.  Churches  of 
concentric  plan  were  few  in  number,  not  only  in  Africa  and  Asia, 
but  in  Constantinople  itself,  until  the  reign  of  Justinian  (A.  D.  527), 
which  ruler  is  known  to  have  still  erected  basilicas  in  his  capital  in 
Jerusalem,  and  upon  Mount  Sinai.  The  basilical  system  was  re- 
tained for  centuries,  with  but  slight  alterations,  in  Algiers,  in  the 
Cyrenaica,  in  Egypt,  and  in  Asia  Minor.  The  Oriental  custom  of 
separating  the  sexes  caused  two-storied  side  aisles  to  be  the  rule, 
and  the  only  differences  of  style  observable  in  these  churches  result- 
ed from  the  helpless  and  incorrect  imitation  of  classic  details  when 
the  supply  of  antique  columns  and  entablatures  was  exhausted. 

Even  in  tracts  where  an  almost  entire  lack  of  timber  and  a  long 
tradition  of  vaulting  would  seem  to  have  called  for  the  introduction 
of  stone  ceilings,  the  retention  of  the  basilical  type  was  almost  ex- 
clusive. This  was  the  case  with  Central  Syria.  The  land  between 
Mount  Lebanon  and  the  desert  has  become  peculiarly  interesting 
from  the  fact  that  the  flourishing  and  populous  period  of  its  history, 
which  began  with  the  Roman  occupation,  in  A.  D.  105,  was  brought 
to  a  sudden  close  in  the  seventh  century,  the  result  being  that  a 
great  number  of  important  monuments  have  remained  unchanged 
by  later  restorations, — wonderfully  preserved  in  a  deserted  country. 
The  remoteness  of  Central  Syria  from  the  civilized  world,  together 
with  the  unusual  restrictions  dependent  upon  the  nature  of  its 
building  materials,  combined  to  give  a  more  marked  individuality  to 
the  basilicas,  and  indeed  to  all  the  architectural  monuments  of  the 
country,  than  is  to  be  found  in  any  other  Roman  province.  This  is 
especially  the  case  with  the  group  of  cities  in  the  district  of  Haow- 
ran,  south  of  Damascus,  where  the  lack  of  timber  was  most  felt,  and 
where  it  had  been  found  necessary  to  construct  even  the  roof  and 
ceiling  of  stone.  In  order  to  reduce  the  width  of  the  plan,  so  as  to 
permit  the  employment  of  stone  lintels,  a  complicated  system  of 
projecting  brackets  and  supporting  arches  was  introduced.  In  more 


SYRIAN   BASILICAS.  49 

northern  tracts  a  fine  limestone  favored  accurate  workmanship  and 
masonry,  and  there  was  also  timber  sufficient  to  supply  the  most 
necessary  beams.  Because  of  this  freedom  from  the  cramping  re- 
strictions of  the  south  we  meet  here  with  a  series  of  buildings  which, 
if  less  original,  were  of  greater  artistic  perfection.  The  develop- 
ment of  the  facades  was  particularly  effective,  as  for  instance  in  the 
Basilica  of  Turmanin.  (Fig.  28.)  The  portico,  formed  by  a  round 


Fig.  28. — Basilica  of  Turmanin  in  Syria. 

arch,  is  flanked  upon  either  side  by  low  towers ;  these  rise  in  two 
stories  to  the  height  of  the  nave,  w.here  they  are  terminated  by  ga- 
bles, and  are  provided  with  broad,  square-headed  windows,  each  of 
which  is  divided  by  a  small  column.  The  detail  of  the  stone-cutting 
is  of  especial  beauty,  the  influence  of  the  debased  style  of  Baalbec 
and  Palmyra  being  less  evident  than  that  of  early  Phoenician  archi- 
tecture. The  Golden  Portal  of  Jerusalem,  which  dates  to  the  sixth 
century,  perhaps  offers  the  closest  parallel  to  this  sharp  and  exact 
carving. 

A  change  was  made,  however,  during  the  reign  of  Justinian 
(A.D.  527-565),  and  the  brilliant  development  of  the  concentric  plan 
was  begun  in  the  East.  Ravenna,  it  is  true,  appears  in  the  advance 

4 


50  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE. 

of  the  movement,  but  this  city  had  been  affected  rather  by  Byzan- 
tine than  by  Roman  influences,  even  as  early  as  the  time  when  it 
was  chosen  by  Honorius  as  the  capital  of  the  Western  Empire  in 
preference  to  Milan,  where  his  father,  Theodosius,  had  resided. 
These  relations  of  Ravenna  to  Byzantium  were  in  great  measure 
decided  by  the  position  and  commerce  of  the  Italian  city,  and  were 
maintained  after  the  Ostrogoths  had  come  into  power.  They  were 
important  among  the  considerations  which  induced  the  Governor 
of  the  West,  under  Justinian,  to  take  up  his  abode  on  the  coast  of 
the  Adriatic  during  the  reunion  of  the  Roman  Empire.  The  archi- 
tectural features  of  Ravenna,  after  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  centu- 
ry— in  particular,  the  crabbed  debasement  of  the  Corinthian  or  com- 
posite capital — are  met  with  at  this  period  throughout  the  entire 
Eastern  Empire,  but  not  in  other  parts  of  Italy ;  hence  it  appears 
probable  that  they  were  imported  from  the  Orient.  Even  the 
materials  for  the  more  important  members  were  commonly  brought 
from  the  East,  not  unfrequently  carved  ready  for  use,  as  is  the  case 
with  the  columns  of  the  oldest  basilicas  of  Ravenna,  which  are  of 
marble  from  Prokonesos,  on  the  Sea  of  Marmora.  Both  the  Church 
and  the  Government  of  Byzantium  are  known  to  have  been  directly 
concerned  in  the  erection  of  S.  Vitale.  And  attention  has  been 
called  to  the  fact  that  a  certain  Julianus,  who  built  the  Basilica 
of  S.  Apollinare  in  Classe,  as  well  S.  Vitale,  was  not  only  called 
Treasurer  (Argentarius),  but  actually  held  that  office,  assisting  the 
latter  church  with  the  means  of  the  Eastern  Empire,  by  the  orders 
of  the  Byzantine  authorities. 

If  the  hypothesis  of  Hiibsch  —  which  has  been  accepted  by 
Schnaase  —  concerning  the  date  of  S.  Lorenzo  in  Milan,  could  be 
proved  correct,  the  priority  of  that  city  in  the  development  of  the 
concentric  plan  would  be  assured ;  for  neither  the  round  Church  of 
Antioch  nor  the  Church  of  the  Apostles  in  Constantinople  can  be 
considered  as  prototypes  of  this  form.  S.  Lorenzo  is  now  repre- 
sented only  by  the  imitation  built  by  Martino  Bassi  in  the  second 
half  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Were  it  ascertained  that  the  original 
edifice  was  really  erected  towards  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century, 
and  was  consequently  older  than  the  Chapel  of  Galla  Placidia,  we 
should  be  obliged  to  consider  it  as  an  important  predecessor  of  the 


S.  LORENZO.  51 

circular  buildings  of  Justinian,  for  the  appearance  of  which  archi- 
tectural history  could  offer  no  explanation.  The  priority  of  the 
concentric  plan  would  then  be  due  neither  to  Byzantium  nor  to 
Ravenna,  but  to  Milan.  The  construction  of  S.  Lorenzo  is  an  ad- 
mirable combination  of  the  square  and  polygonal  plan,  the  central 
space  forming  an  irregular  octagon,  the  four  sides  in  the  diagonal  of 
which  are  smaller  than  those  parallel  to  its  axes.  By  the  addition 
of  piers  at  the  corners  of  the  square  the  three  on  each  of  the  nar- 
rower sides  form  groups  fully  equal  in  static  efficiency  to  single  and 
massive  supports,  the  dome  thus  resting  upon  the  angles  of  the 
plan.  The  four  longer  sides  of  the  octagon  are  enlarged  by  apses 
with  two-storied  colonnades,  the  parallel  extension  of  the  outer 
passage  being  thus  determined.  It  was  not  thought  desirable  to 
continue  the  irregularity  of  the  octagon  in  the  compartments  of 
the  cupola,  and  an  equalization  was  effected  beneath  the  springing 
of  the  dome  by  projecting  arches  on  the  sides  parallel  with  the 
diagonals  of  the  fundamental  square.  (Fig.  29.) 

It  needs  no  argument  to  prove  that  so  successful  a  system, 
evidently  the  result  of  long  experience,  could  not  have  made  its 
appearance  a  century  earlier  than  the  first  examples  of  the  ex- 
tended concentric  plan  otherwise  known, —  especially  in  a  town 
quite  remote  from  those  places  where  this  peculiar  architectural 
type  is  first  assured.  It  might,  perhaps,  be  nearer  the  truth  to  as- 
sume such  a  priority  for  the  old  Cathedral  of  Brescia,  with  its  cir- 
cular dome  supported  upon  eight  piers  and  its  concentric  passage, 
as  the  date  usually  adopted  for  the  erection  of  this  building, 
which  assigns  it  to  the  seventh  century,  is  by  no  means  certain. 
A  church  of  S.  Lorenzo  is  mentioned  in  documents  as  early  as  the 
middle  of  the  fifth  century,  but  this  may  well  have  referred  to  a 
primitive  Christian  structure  upon  the  same  site,  possibly  a  basilica, 
just  as  St.  Sophia  in  Constantinople  was  preceded  by  an  edifice 
dating  to  the  age  of  Constantine.  The  concentric  church  of  Milan 
may  therefore  be  considered  as  later  than  S.  Vitale  in  Ravenna, 
S.  Lorenzo  appearing  rather  as  a  secondary  combination  of  the 
systems  observable  in  S.  Vitale  and  St.  Sergius,  than  as  the  model 
of  either  of  these  structures. 

S.  Vitale  in   Ravenna  and   St.  Sergius  in  Constantinople  were 


52  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE. 


Fig.  29. — Plan  and  Section  of  S.  Lorenzo  in  Milan. 

built  at  very  nearly  the  same  time,  the  first  having  been  begun 
in  the  year  526,  the  latter  soon  after  Justinian's  ascension  to  the 
throne,  A.  0.527.  The  ground-plan  of  S.  Vitale  (Fig:  30)  is  a  regu- 


S.  VITALE. 


53 


lar  octagon,  both  in  the  central  space,  the  dome  of  which  is  sup- 
ported upon  eight  piers,  and  in  the  surrounding  passage.  In  plan 
the  sides  of  the  high  piers  are  radial ;  they  are  connected  by  round 
arches.  Above,  the  octagon  is  transformed  to  a  sixteen-sided  poly- 
gon by  small  projecting  niches,  the  predecessors  of  the  pendentives 


Fig.  30. — Plan  and  Section  of  S.  Vitale  in  Ravenna. 

which  in  later  times  became  of  such  importance.  The  impost  of 
the  hemispherical  cupola  is  thus  very  nearly  circular.  The  round 
base  of  the  dome  is  inscribed  within  the  central  octagon, — not  with- 
out, as  has  been  seen  to  be  the  case  in  the  Temple  of  Minerva 
Medica.  To  insure  lightness  the  vault  was  built  of  pottery  vessels, 


54  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE. 

the  end  of  each  of  these  resting  in  the  orifice  of  the  one  next  to  it, 
the  whole  being  cast  in  cement.  This  manner  of  construction  was 
not  uncommon  in  antique  Roman  architecture,  and  was  dependent 
upon  the  exceptionally  firm  character  of  Italian  mortar.  Seven  of 
the  eight  large  spaces  between  the  piers  are  provided  with  niches 
similar  to  those  in  the  Temple  of  Minerva  Medica,  in  each  of  which 
four  columns,  in  two  stories,  support  a  half  cupola  (conch),  resting 
against  the  main  arches  between  the  piers.  The  eighth  space,  in 
which  the  altar  was  placed,  is  a  rectangle  covered  with  a  cross 
vault,  and  terminated  by  an  apse  projecting  beyond  the  octagon 
of  the  exterior,  this  appearing  in  plan  semicircular  within  and  po- 
lygonal without.  The  general  form  and  the  position  of  the  win- 
dows in  the  apse  are  of  a  design  which  does  not  appear  in  Rome, 
but  which  was  common  throughout  the  Byzantine  Empire,  even 
in  basilicas.  The  gallery  extends  around  the  entire  passage,  with 
exception  of  this  space  for  the  altar ;  its  ceiling  was  not  timbered 
but  vaulted,  an  extremely  complicated  construction  resulting  from 
the  trapeze -shaped  divisions,  and  the  intersections  of  the  before- 
mentioned  niches. 

The  general  effect  of  the  interior  is  quite  different  from  that 
of  the  Occidental  basilica.  In  the  latter  the  extreme  simplicity  of 
the  architectural  conception  is  severe  and  grand ;  in  the  concentric 
church  the  far  greater  technical  ability,  in  the  service  of  Oriental 
imagination,  produces  a  wonderful  richness  and  variety.  The  num- 
ber of  great  and  small  semicircles  in  plan,  arches,  and  vaults,  with 
the  avoidance  of  parallel,  a«d  especially  of  horizontal  lines,  gives 
to  the  whole  a  soft  and  luxurious  character  quite  foreign  to  classic 
architecture.  The  Eastern  influence  is  further  evident  both  in  the 
form  and  color  of  the  ornamentation.  The  general  type  of  the  tra- 
peze-shaped Byzantine  capitals  (Fig.  31)  appears  fully  determined 
in  the  lower  range  of  columns  in  S.  Vitale.  The  Corinthian  and 
composite  varieties  are  here  no  longer  imitated ;  the  most  primi- 
tive outline  of  the  capital  is  again  taken  up,  the  transition  between 
the  circular  shaft  and  the  square  abacus  upon  which  rests  the  archi- 
trave, archivolt,  or  impost,  being  effected  by  a  straight-lined  pro- 
jection. The  flat  ornament  of  the  plain  block  thus  resulting  is 
distinctly  Oriental  and  textile  in  character,  the  borders  and  sides 


BYZANTINE   INTERIORS. 


55 


having  narrow  intertwined  and  braided  work  in  place  of  the  con- 
ventionalized foliage  of  classic  decorations.  The  effect  of  the  whole 
was  rather  dependent  upon  gilding  and  the  colors  of  Oriental  tap- 
estry than  upon  sculpture  in  relief.  The  same  peculiarities  appear 
in  a  second  form  of  the  capital,  common  in  Constantinople,  of  which 
there  is  but  one  specimen  in  Ravenna ;  in  it  the  echinos  is  of  a  cir- 
cular or  reeded  horizontal  section,  and  is  covered  with  a  fine  net- 
work of  conventionalized  leaves  and  tendrils.  A  kind  of  impost 
upon  the  top  of  the  capital  is  provided  by  a  block  which  takes  the 
place  of  the  upper  members  of  the  antique  entablature,  and  is  ref- 
erable rather  to  an  Asiatic  than  to  a  Roman  origin.  The  influence 


Fig.  31.— Byzantine  Capitals,  from  S.  Vitale  in  Ravenna. 

of  the  East,  not  that  of  Rome,  is  further  evident  in  the  colored  mar- 
bles of  the  shafts  and  in  the  patterns  of  revetments  and  of  pave- 
ments. The  bareness  of  the  brick  masonry  may  be  compared  to 
the  neglect  of  the  exterior,  so  painfully  felt  in  the  early  Christian 
basilicas ;  but  this  contrast  between  great  magnificence  within  and 
a  monotonous  poverty  without  is  quite  in  agreement  with  the  con- 
ceptions of  the  Orient. 

The  chief  defects  of  the  general  arrangement,  especially  in  the 
atrium  of  S.  Vitale,  become  evident  by  a  comparison  of  this  church 
with  that  of  St.  Sergius  in  Constantinople.  The  construction  of 


56  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE. 

the  latter,  with  its  cupola  supported  upon  eight  piers,  is  in  the 
main  the  same;  but  in  it  the  pendentives  have  reached  their  full 
development  as  spherical  triangles,  forming,  as  it  were,  lower  por- 
tions of  an  intersected  dome.  The  cupola,  instead  of  being  hemi- 
spherical, is  divided  into  sixteen  compartments.  One  of  the  most 
important  characteristics  of  the  plan  (Fig.  32)  is  the  arrangement 
of  the  whole  in  a  rectangle,  which  harmonized  the  church  with  the 
neighboring  structures,  and  provided  a  more  natural  and  fitting 
place  for  the  narthex  than  was  the  case  in  S.  Vitale.  The  surround- 
ing passage  being  planned  with- 
out such  enlargement  by  apses  in 
the  lines  of  the  axes,  as  we  have 
observed  in  S.  Lorenzo  in  Milan, 
it  became  necessary  to  adopt  sim- 
ilar niches  in  the  diagonals  in  or- 
der that  the  widths  of  the  lateral 
and  of  the  corner  spaces  on  the 
floor  and  in  the  galleries  should 
not  be  too  dissimilar.  In  the  cen- 
tral enclosure  the  sides  parallel 
to  the  square  were  consequently 
formed  by  straight  lines.  There 
was,  of  course,  no  gallery  on  the 
side  opposite  the  entrance,  where 
stood  the  altar. 

The  most  important  and  the 
most  perfect  monument  of  By- 
zantine architecture,  St.  Sophia  in 

Constantinople  (Church  of  the  Divine  Wisdom),  was  begun  but  little 
after  S.  Vitale  and  St.  Sergius.  The  Constantine  basilica  which 
stood  upon  the  site  had  been  burned  in  the  year  532,  on  the  occa- 
sion of  an  uprising  of  the  populace,  and  Justinian  took  advantage 
of  this  to  commemorate  his  victory  by  a  magnificent  rebuilding. 
It  was  probably  the  destruction  of  the  earlier  church  by  the  flames 
which  led  to  the  adoption  of  fire -proof  vaulting  throughout  the 
new  edifice.  Never  before  had  this  system  of  construction  been 
attempted  on  so  extended  a  scale.  It  cannot  be  regarded  as  a 


Fig.  32.— Plan  of  the  Church  of  St.  Ser- 
gius in  Constantinople. 


ST.  SOPHIA. 


57 


mere  chance  that  both  the  architects  to  whom  the  task  was  in- 
trusted were  Asiatics  by  birth — Isidores  of  Miletos  and  Anthemios 
of  Tralles.  In  five  years  after  the  fire  the  new  church  was  ready 
for  consecration.  Soon  after  this  it  was  much  injured  by  an  earth- 
quake, but  was  restored  with  even  greater  splendor,  according  to 
the  plans  of  the  younger  Isidores,  a  nephew  of  the  first  architect. 
It  is  well  known  that,  after  having  served  as  a  Christian  church  for 
nearly  a  thousand  years,  the  building  has  become  the  chief  mosque 


Fig.  33- — Plan  of  the  Church  of  St.  Sophia  in  Constantinople. 

of  the  Turks,  and  under  them  has  not  only  been  disfigured,  but  has 
been  left  in  such  a  state  of  neglect  that  the  ruin  of  this  wonderful 
monument  is  reported  to  be  imminent. 

The  general  plan  of  St.  Sophia  (Fig.  33)  is  a  cross,  over  the 
centre  of  which  is  a  majestic  dome,  30  m.  in  span  and  almost  54  m. 
in  height,  this  being  supported  upon  arches  rising  from  four  piers. 
The  arms  of  the  cross  in  the  long  axis  are  formed  by  two  enormous 
apses,  the  conches  of  which  exercise  their  thrust  against  the  main 
cupola ;  hence  the  chief  piers  only  required  strengthening  by  but- 


58  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE. 

tresses  upon  the  sides.  The  central  dome  is  united  with  the  two 
great  apses  to  a  single  nave,  72  m.  in  length,  which  is  further  en- 
larged by  three  subsidiary  niches  at  either  end,  the  one  in  the  middle 
of  the  western  side  forming  the  entrance,  while  that  opposite  to  it 
was  reserved  for  the  altar.  The  enclosure  of  the  whole  in  a  square, 
as  in  St.  Sergius,  was  naturally  brought  about  by  the  introduction 
of  straight  side  aisles,  the  ends  of  which  are  bordered,  in  a  some- 
what disjointed  fashion,  by  the  lateral  niches  of  the  chief  apses. 
The  side  buttresses  are  opened  by  large  arches,  in  a  manner  similar 
to  that  which  had  been  adopted  in  the  forensic  Basilica  of  Maxen- 
tius  in  Rome,  but  with  the  addition  of  galleries.  The  gradation  of 
the  circle  and  the  semicircles  of  the  plan,  from  the  dome  to  the 
niches,  corresponds  to  the  rhythmical  ascent  of  the  arches  and 
conches  to  the  terminating  cupola.  The  four  triangles  between 
the  piers  and  the  dome  are  occupied  by  pendentives.  The  bold  sur- 
based  dome  appears  the  more  light  and  airy  because  pierced  by 
forty  small  windows,  through  which  a  glory  of  light  is  thrown  into 
the  central  space.  Throughout  the  entire  building  the  illumination 
is  profuse;  there  are  twenty-four  windows  in  the  side  walls  above 
the  northern  and  southern  galleries,  and  as  many  more  in  the 
conches  of  the  east  and  west,  the  nave  thus  receiving  light  from 
nearly  a  hundred  orifices.  Great  as  is  this  total  it  is  equalled  by 
the  number  of  windows  in  the  side  aisles.  This  brilliant  light  fell 
upon  a  decoration  of  unequalled  magnificence.  The  hundred  col- 
umns, and  the  revetments  of  the  walls  and  piers,  are  of  green 
Thessalian  and  red  Theban  marble,  and  of  costly  stones  of  every 
hue  from  all  the  quarries  between  Arabia  and  the  Alps.  In  the 
presbytery  the  altar,  the  ambones,  and  the  columns  were  of  silver. 
The  extended  surfaces  of  the  upper  walls  and  vaults  were  covered 
with  mosaics  upon  gold  ground.  There  was  no  part  of  the  interior 
which  did  not  tax  all  the  resources  of  a  lavish  a«-e 

& 

Great  as  was  this  magnificence  it  was  surpassed  by  the  artistic 
conception  of  the  monument.  In  this  enormous  enclosure  the  ad- 
vantages of  a  nave,  or  at  least  of  an  emphasized  longitudinal  axis, 
and  of  many  of  the  rectangular  forms  of  the  basilica,  were  happily 
combined  with  the  majesty,  the  rhythmical  picturesqueness,  and  the 
safety  from  fire  peculiar  to  the  vaulted  churches  of  concentric  plan. 


ST.   SOPHIA. 


59 


The  problem  of  the  most  advantageous  combination  of  a  dome  with 
lateral  aisles  was  here  definitely  solved.  The  Church  of  St.  Sophia 
was  the  proudest  achievement  of  the  Byzantine  style,  and  for  centu- 
ries was  justly  regarded  as  a  model.  The  fact  should  not,  however, 
be  overlooked  that  this  building  shared  in  full  measure  the  chief 


Fig.  34.— View  of  the  Interior  of  the  Church  of  St.  Sophia  in  Constantinople. 


defect  of  Byzantine,  and  indeed  of  all  early  Christian  architecture, 
namely,  the  one-sided  development  of  the  interior  at  the  expense 
of  the  exterior.  Its  brick  masonry,  without  revetment,  displays  no 
traces  of  any  design  beyond  the  utilitarian  construction  of  the  en- 
closure. There  is  something  excessively  clumsy  in  the  heavy  and 
unmembered  side  piers,  in  the  exterior  transition  between  the  cupola 


60  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE    ARCHITECTURE. 

and  the  square,  and  in  the  many  squat  buttresses  which  surround 
the  subsidiary  apses.  And  a  confused  character  of  agglomeration 
resulted,  even  before  the  later  additions,  from  the  diverging  lines  of 
the  windows,  the  varied  curves  of  the  apses,  and  the  unrelated  sur- 
faces of  the  different  roofs.  To  this  it  must  be  added  that  the 
conches,  whose  metal  sheathing  rests  directly  upon  the  vaulting, 
appear  to  sink  into  the  walls  beneath  them,  these  being  carried  up 
vertically  upon  the  exterior  as  high  as  the  windows  in  the  curves. 

In  short  the  impression  made  by  the 
whole  exterior  is  helpless.  It  is  nothing 
more  than  a  literal  and  unimaginative  ex- 
pression of  the  construction  adopted  for 
the  grand  interior,  from  which  the  archi- 
tect was  neither  able  nor  apparently  de- 
sirous to  obtain  an  aesthetic  effect. 

Justinian  by  no  means  limited  his  ex- 
ertions to  this  one  successful  task.  In 
Constantinople  alone  there  were  twenty- 
five  churches  which  were  built  or  re- 
modelled during  his  reign.  Of  these  we 
need  mention  only  the  Church  of  St. 
Irene  (Fig.  35),  remarkable  for  the  ap- 
pearance in  it  of  two  cupolas  of  equal 
size,  whereby  the  nave  became  even 
more  extended  and  similar  to  that  of  a 

I — i — S £ iifir.  basilica.    This  building  must  have  served 

Fig.  35.— Plan  of  the  Church  of     as  a  model  for  the  Church  of  St.  Mark  in 
St.  Irene,  in  Constantinople.        Venice,  unless,  indeed,  the  sanctuary  in 

Alexandria,  dedicated  to  the  same  saint, 

may  have  been  of  similar  plan,  and  of  more  direct  influence  upon 
the  Venetian  work  of  the  eleventh  century.  The  creations  of  Jus- 
tinian were  to  be  found  in  all  the  eastern  provinces — Greece,  Asia 
Minor,  Syria,  Palestine,  Egypt,  and  Northern  Africa.  With  a  love 
for  works  of  engineering,  and  utilitarian  constructions  generally, 
which  was  worthy  of  his  ancient  Roman  predecessors,  he  built, 
not  churches  alone,  but  bridges,  aqueducts,  hospitals,  and  caravan- 
saries, in  great  number  and  in  every  part  of  the  country.  He 


LATER   DOMED   CHURCHES.  6l 

did  not  fail  to  make  extensive  additions  to  the  imperial  palaces 
built  by  Constantine,  introducing  the  new  style  in  such  structures 
as  the  so-called  Chalke,  and  the  summer  palace,  or  Heraeon,  on 
the  Asiatic  side  of  the  Bosporus. 

Justinian  was,  indeed,  for  the  Byzantine  epoch  what  Trajan  and 
Hadrian  had  been  for  an  earlier  age ;  and,  like  them,  he  failed  to 
bequeath  to  his  immediate  successors  his  genius  as  a  ruler  and  his 
fostering  love  of  the  arts.  As  early  as  the  end  of  the  sixth  century 
architectural  activity  had  greatly  diminished  in  the  Eastern  Em- 
pire ;  and  in  the  following  ages  the  endless  intrigues  of  the  court 
and  the  troubles  with  the  iconoclasts  brought  monumental  building 
almost  to  a  stand-still.  Of  public  edifices  the  palaces  alone  were 
multiplied  and  extended  by  halls  and  pavilions,  particularly  under 
Theophilus  (A.D.  829-842).  When  at  last  Basilius,  the  founder  of  the 
Macedonian  dynasty,  which  ruled  between  867  and  1057,  again  en- 
couraged ecclesiastical  architecture,  the  artistic  spirit  had  long  been 
lost,  and  the  churches  were  little  more  than  mechanical  repetitions 
of  the  types  developed  in  the  time  of  Justinian.  Almost  without 
exception  a  dome  was  erected  above  a  square  central  space,  which 
was  extended  to  a  cruciform  plan  by  the  wings  naturally  resulting 
from  the  retention  of  the  four  piers.  These  wings  were  commonly 
covered  with  barrel  vaults,  thus  returning  to  the  primitive  arrange- 
ment of  the  Chapel  of  Galla  Placidia.  The  angles  formed  by  the 
arms  of  the  cross  at  the  intersection  of  the  side  aisles  gave  oppor- 
tunity for  the  introduction  of  smaller  cupolas,  which  were  sometimes 
erected  also  above  the  narthex,  or  at  the  ends  of  the  nave  and  tran- 
sept. In  order  to  assure  to  the  main  dome  a  dominating  position 
among  these  groups  it  was  often  stilted  upon  a  drum,  and  the  gen- 
eral tendency  was  to  increase  the  height  of  the  elevations  while  re- 
ducing  the  size  of  the  plan.  The  effect  of  the  exterior  was  thereby 
somewhat  improved,  as  the  cupolas  no  longer  appeared  to  sink  into 
the  walls,  but  rose  hemispherically  above  the  circle  of  windows, 
which  were  transferred  to  the  drum.  An  effective  memberment  of 
engaged  columns,  or  pilasters,  and  arches  in  relief  was  frequently 
applied  to  the  apse,  which  continued  polygonal  upon  the  exterior. 
Such  architectural  details,  however,  long  remained  very  meagre.  A 
noticeable  characteristic  of  churches  of  this  kind  is  the  alternation 


62  EARLY  CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE  ARCHITECTURE. 

of  courses  of  brick  and  stone,  which  horizontal  "bands  of  color  pro- 
vided an  agreeable  contrast  to  the  round  outlines  of  the  cupolas 
and  vaults.  But,  while  the  exterior  gained,  the  interior  deteriorated, 
both  in  construction  and  decoration.  The  barrel-vaulted  nave  and 
transept,  with  their  narrow  openings  to  the  side  aisles,  increased  the 
possibility  of  seeing  the  altar  from  the  subsidiary  spaces,  but  the 
smaller  apses  were  lost  to  the  enclosure  by  being  occupied  by  the 
prothesis  (chamber  for  votive  offerings)  and  by  the  diakonikon  (sac- 
risty). The  cornices  shrivelled  up,  and  the  colored  decoration  of 
mosaics  and  paintings  which  remained  could  not  compensate  for  the 
lack  of  architectural  memberment.  The  narthex,  generally  placed 
before  the  chief  entrance,  was  sometimes  supplemented  by  an  exo- 
narthex.  When  it  became  two  storied,  the  upper  part  being  used 
as  a  gynaikeion,  it  was  found  impossible  to  bring  this  gallery  into 
any  organic  connection  with  the  body  of  the  church,  so  that  the 
effect  of  the  whole  did  not  remotely  approach  that  afterwards  at- 
tained by  the  Romanic  transept. 

The  type  here  described  is  seen  in  a  number  of  churches  in 
Constantinople  now  transformed  into  mosques.  Among  them  may 
be  mentioned  the  Church  of  St.  Andrew,  now  Hodja  Mustapha  Pa- 
sha Jamissi,  which  was  built  soon  after  the  age  of  Justinian,  and  is 
remarkable  for  the  apses  terminating  the  transept ;  the  Church  of 
St.  Theodore,  now  Mefa  Jamissi,  probably  built  in  the  tenth  cen- 
tury, with  barrel -vaulted  wings  and  double  narthex.  Also  the 
mortuary  Chapel  of  Romanus  Lacapenus,  now  Budrum  Jamissi,  built 
in  the  year  918  ;  and,  similar  to  it,  the  Pantepoptes  Church,  now 
Eski  Imaret  Jamissi,  erected  in  the  eleventh  century.  Fig.  36  dis- 
plays the  plan  and  section  of  the  last  of  these  edifices,  which  may 
be  considered  as  typical.  We  may  include  in  this  list  the  Panto- 
krator  Church,  now  Zeirek  Jamissi,  built  in  the  twelfth  century,  with 
one  dome,  barrel-vaulted  transept,  and  double  narthex ;  and  finally, 
the  Church  of  the  Saviour,  Kahrije  Jamissi,  erected  in  the  eleventh 
century  on  the  foundations  of  a  building  of  the  age  of  Justinian, 
in  which  the  general  arrangement  is  made  less  clear  and  organic 
by  the  addition  of  a  chapel  (parekklissioii)  upon  the  right  side, 
whereby  the  transept  is  much  cramped,  the  side  apses  quite  iso- 
lated, and  the  entire  interior  disfigured.  This  building,  with  its 


EXTENSION   OF   BYZANTINE   ART.  63 

six  cupolas,  has  become  of  especial  importance  to  the  history  of  art 
as  the  only  church  of  Constantinople  in  which  the  mosaics  and 
paintings  upon  the  vaults  and  tympanons,  the  marble  revetments 
of  the  lower  wall  surfaces,  and  the  ornamental  reliefs  of  the  arches 
and  capitals,  have  not  been  destroyed  by  the  fanatical  vandalism 
of  the  Turks.  Although  some  of  the  good  qualities  of  Justinian's 
work  were  still  retained,  the  general  effect  is  so  commonplace  and 
mechanical  that  but  little  delight  can  be  taken  in  these  remains. 


Fig,  36. — Plan  and  Section  of  the  Pantepoptes  Church  in  Constantinople. 

Unthinking  continuance  in  one  rut  was  inevitable  in  the  nation 
which  developed  Byzantine  architecture,  and  resulted  from  the  des- 
potism and  slavish  subjection,  the  dogmatism  and  passive  reception 
of  ecclesiastical  doctrines,  which  characterized  the  civilization  of 
the  Eastern  Empire. 

The  Byzantine  style  was  a  combination  of  Oriental  and  Occi- 
dental elements  which  had  been  united  on  the  shores  of  the  Bos- 
porus. When  once  its  chief  characteristics  had  been  determined 


64  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE. 

it  was  transferred,  unchanged,  to  the  most  remote  provinces.  Five 
hundred  years  after  Roman  culture  had  embraced  the  entire  civil- 
ized globe,  and  affected  even  semi-barbarous  tracts,  the  influence 
of  Byzantium  was  similarly  extended  over  the  greater  part  of  the 
world  then  known,  and  to  lands  previously  quite  uncivilized.  The 
centre  of  culture  had  been  removed  somewhat  farther  eastward, 
but  the  extent  of  its  influence  was  scarcely  diminished.  At  the 
East,  in  distant  Asia,  the  Sassanidae  borrowed  more  from  the  By, 
zantine  stock  than  they  had  contributed  to  it.  In  the  south-east 
newly -arisen  Mohammedan  art  received  its  first  and  its  most  im- 
portant impetus,  even  more  directly,  from  the  same  source.  The 
north-east  of  Europe  and  the  Asiatic  shores  of  the  Pontos  retained 
the  Byzantine  civilization  longer  than  did  the  capital  itself;  indeed, 
in  these  countries  its  traces  are  evident  even  to-day.  In  Italy  such 
maritime  emporiums  as  Ravenna,  and  its  successor  Venice,  were 
chiefly  Byzantine  in  character;  while,  even  in  political  respects, 
certain  towns  of  Magna  Graecia  and  Sicily  long  continued  in  inti- 
mate connection  with  Constantinople.  Even  the  Germanic  lands 
felt  this  influence :  in  architecture,  at  least,  through  the  mediation 
of  Italy,  and  in  painting,  with  its  branches,  mosaic  work  and  illu- 
mination, directly  from  the  Bosporus.  We  shall  subsequently  ex- 
amine the  art  of  the  more  important  of  these  countries,  particularly 
the  Orient,  Italy,  and  Germany,  in  reference  to  these  factors ;  but 
the  districts  on  the  shores  of  the  Black  Sea,  which  were  little  more 
than  provinces  of  Byzantium,  may  here  be  considered  as  supple- 
mentary to  Byzantine  art,  in  so  far  as  they  present  individual  pecu- 
liarities of  development. 

Chief  among  these  provinces  was  Armenia,  and,  dependent  upon 
it,  Georgia.*  Extending  from  the  southern  slopes  of  the  Caucasus 
to  the  borders  of  Persia,  these  countries  were  affected  by  the  same 
historical  movements.  Armenia  had  been  Christianized,  as  early 
as  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century,  by  missionaries  sent  from 
Rome,  but  its  art  had  soon  after  become  decidedly  Byzantine. 
Through  the  spread  of  the  monophysitic  doctrines  of  Eutyches, 

*  Ch.  Texier,  Description  de  1'Armenie.     Paris  s.  a.— D.  Grimm,  Monuments  d'archi- 
tecture  Byzantine  en  Georgie  et  en  Armenie.     St.  Petersbourg,  1859. 


ARMENIA.  .       65 

however,  it  had  become  isolated,  not  only  from  Rome  and  Byzan- 
tium, but  from  all  the  Christian  countries  of  the  East.  The  result 
of  this  isolation  was  the  development  of  a  peculiar  architectural 
style,  showing  in  many  ways  the  influence  of  Syria.  In  the  eccle- 
siastical edifices  of  Armenia  the  central  dome,  with  nave,  transept, 
and  four  subsidiary  spaces  filling  out  the  angles  of  the  cruciform 
plan, was  certainly  a  direct  imitation  of  Byzantine  models;  but  the 
appearance  of  gables  at  the  ends  of  the  nave  and  transept  is  rather 
referable  to  classic  and  Oriental  prototypes.  The  polygonal  plan 
and  straight-lined  roofing  of  the  cupola  also  differed  decidedly  from 


Fig.  37. — Church  at  Ani. 

the  forms  customary  in  Constantinople.  The  close  proximity  of  the 
country  to  Persia  and  Syria  is  particularly  evident  in  the  ornament- 
al details,  which  are  almost  exclusively  composed  of  motives  taken 
from  braided  or  woven  work,  resembling  in  this  respect  the  decora- 
tions of  northern  Germanic  art.  Similar  indications  are  to  be  found 
in  the  attempts  to  support  the  dome  upon  reeded  pillars  instead  of 
upon  piers.  These  peculiarities  are  well  exemplified  in  the  most 
important  monument  of  Armenia,  the  Cathedral  of  the  capital  city, 
Ani  (Fig.  37),  built  in  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  century— an 
edifice  which  bears  witness  to  the  great  architectural  abilities  of 

5 


66        •  EARLY   CHRISTIAN    AND   BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE. 

this  remarkable  people,  especially  when  it  is  considered  that  they 
could  not  have  been  affected  by  the  northern  European  art  of  the 
Romanic  epoch.  After  the  twelfth  century  Asiatic  influences  con- 
tinued to  increase,  until  Armenia  was  almost  entirely  given  over  to 
Mohammedan  civilization  ;  yet,  in  ecclesiastical  architecture  at  least, 
the  native  traditions  were  long  retained. 

Georgia  was  even  more  closely  related  to  the  culture  of  the 
Eastern  Empire.  It  was  Christianized  from  Byzantium  and  always 
remained  faithful  to  the  Greek  Church.  Its  connection  with  Ar- 
menia, in  artistic  respects,  was  only  temporary,  and  came  to  an  end 
after  the  tenth  century.  The  churches  of  Georgia  are  narrow  in 
plan  and  tall  in  elevation,  but  these  proportions  were  common,  in 
later  times,  throughout  many  of  the  dependencies  of  the  Byzan- 
tine Empire,  as,  for  instance,  in  Greece,  Servia,  and  the  greater  part 
of  Russia. 

Because  of  its  enormous  extent  and  the  peculiar  and  tenacious 
character  of  its  artistic  work,  Russia  is  by  far  the  most  important 
of  the  countries  influenced  by  Byzantine  civilization.*  In  it  alone 
Byzantine  art  has  continued  to  be  practised  up  to  the  present  day. 
Unfortunately  it  came  under  these  influences  in  an  age  when  the 
style  of  the  Eastern  Empire  had  declined  into  mechanical  manner- 
ism. Christianity,  and  with  it  a  higher  civilization,  was  not  generally 
introduced  into  the  Muscovite  Empire  before  the  end  of  the  tenth 
century,  until  Vladimir  the  Great  had  been  baptized  at  Kherson  on 
the  occasion  of  his  marriage  with  the  Byzantine  princess  Anna, 
A.  D.  988.  It  was  therefore  not  strange  that  the  Byzantine  style, 
when  it  first  appeared  on  the  steppes  of  the  Don  and  the  Dnieper^ 
was  quite  without  connection  with  the  Greek  colonies  on  the  north- 
ern coast  of  the  Black  Sea.  Kiev,  the  Russian  capital  at  that  time, 
consisted  entirely  of  wooden  huts,  and  the  four  hundred  chapels 
which  it  is  known  to  have  contained  shortly  after  the  death  of 
Vladimir,  can  have  been  only  small,  timbered  constructions.  The 
more  important  ecclesiastical  edifices  of  the  country,  often  built  by 
Greek  architects,  were  at  that  time  certainly  few  in  number.  But 


*  E.  Viollet  le  Due,  L'Art  Russe,  ses  origines,  ses  elements  constitutifs,  son  apogee,  son 
avenir.     Paris,  Morel  1877. 


RUSSIA. 


the  churches  of  St.  Sophia  at  Kiev,  Novgorod,  and  Tchernigof,  which 
must  have  resembled  the  great  fane  upon  the  Bosporus  in  general 
arrangement  as  well  as  in  name,  soon  exercised  a  decisive  influence 
upon  the  rude  and  untrained  inhabitants  of  Southern  Russia. 

The  style  became  some- 
what altered  after  the  end 
of  the  twelfth  century,  when 
native  workmen,  and  even  na- 
tive designers,  took  the  place 
of  architects  previously  sum- 
moned from  Constantinople. 
The  Byzantine  traditions  were 
affected  by  traits  more  pe- 
culiarly Asiatic  :  derived,  on 
the  one  hand,  from  Armenia, 
through  the  districts  of  the 
Caucasus,  on  the  other  from 
the  interior  of  the  great  con- 
tinent, beyond  the  Ural  Moun- 
tains. The  Church  of  Our 
Lady  (Fig.  38)  near  the  Clois- 
ter Bogolubor  in  the  govern- 
mental district  of  Vladimir, 
built  in  the  year  1165,  was 
Byzantine  in  general  arrange- 
ment ;  yet  it  displays  the  in- 
fluences of  Armenia  in  the 
portal,  low  galleries,  and  en- 
gaged pillars,  and  of  distant 
Asia  in  the  turnip -shaped 
cupola  and  the  curved  lines 
of  the  roof.  These  influences 
are  also  evident  in  the  Church 

of  St.  Demetrius  at  Vladimir,  built  between  the  years  1 194  and 
1197,  where  the  arcades  in  relief  are  Armenian,  while  the  decora- 
tion of  conventionalized  foliage  is  distinctly  Asiatic. 

Architectural  motives  from  the  far  East  naturally  continued  to 


Fig.  38. — Church  of  Our  Lady  (Pakrova)  near 
the  Cloister  Bogolubor. 


68  EARLY  CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE. 

take  the  place  of  those  from  the  West  after  the  inroads  of  Genghis 
Khan  had  resulted  in  the  subjugation  of  Russia  to  the  Mongolians 
(A.D.  1237-1480).  The  occupation  of  the  country  by  the  Tartars 
was,  upon  the  whole,  unfavorable  to  the  development  of  Russian 
art ;  still  it  appears  that  the  luxury  and  magnificence  exhibited  by 
the  commanders  of  these  Asiatic  hordes  was  not  without  its  effect 
upon  the  courts  of  native  princes  and  boyars,  whose  life  had  previ- 
ously been  of  patriarchal  simplicity.  The  Russian  artists  who,  from 
choice  or  from  necessity,  followed  the  retinue  of  the  Tartars,  re- 
turned to  their  homes  strongly  impressed  with  the  Asiatic  spirit, 
and  this  was  readily  adopted  by  a  population  of  kindred  race. 
The  tall,  turnip-shaped  cupolas,  rising  from  low  and  solid  masses  of 
masonry, — the  ornamentation,  similar  in  treatment  to  that  of  India 
and  Persia, — the  use  of  bright  and  often  crude  colors,  the  capricious 
outlines  of  cornices  and  mouldings, — all  point  to  intimate  relations 
with  Eastern  Asia.  The  system  of  squinch  vaulting,  shown  in 
Figs.  39  and  40,  by  which  the  transition  was  effected  from  a  square 
plan  to  the  tall  cupolas,  was  determined  by  a  constructive  principle 
entirely  different  from  that  of  the  pendentives  of  S.  Vitale  in 
Ravenna,  or  of  S.  Lorenzo  in  Milan,  being  based  upon  the  same 
Asiatic  methods  to  which  must  be  ascribed  the  complicated  stalac- 
tite vaults  of  Arabian  architecture. 

By  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  a  style  had  thus  become 
prevalent  in  Russia,  the  chief  elements  of  which  had  been  derived, 
not  only  from  Constantinople,  but  from  Persia  and  the  farther 
East.  It  is  surprising  that  this  development  was  not  more  notice- 
ably affected  by  two  historical  events,  which  otherwise  were  of  the 
greatest  moment, — namely,  the  taking  of  Constantinople  by  the 
Turks  in  1453,  and  the  emancipation  of  Russia  from  the  yoke  of 
the  Tartars  in  1480.  Byzantine  art  had  taken  too  deep  root  in 
the  Muscovite  Empire  to  be  greatly  disturbed  because  of  the 
occupation  of  its  native  soil  on  the  Bosporus  by  the  Moham- 
medans; and  Byzantine  painting,  having  become  nationalized  in 
Russia,  continued  as  general  and  as  unaltered  as  it  did  in  the 
districts  dependent  upon  Mount  Athos  for  their  supply  of  ecclesi- 
astical pictures.  The  intercourse  with  Asia  had  been  furthered 
rather  than  lessened  by  the  driving  out  of  the  Tartars.  After  the 


RUSSIA. 


69 


middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  Italian  and  German  artists  were 
imported,  in  preference  to  Byzantines,  into  the  rapidly  advancing 
city  of  Moscow,  which,  in  1328,  had  become  the  capital  of  the 
country;  but  by  this  time  the  peculiarities  of  Russian  art  were  so 
fully  determined  that  these  foreigners  were  unable  to  introduce  the 
principles  of  design  which  had  been  so  successfully  developed  in 


ug.  39._  Plan  and  section  of  a  Cupola-       Fig.  40.  —  Plan    and    Elevation    of   a 


tower  of   the  Church   of   St.  Sophia   at 
Kiev. 


Cupola-tower  of  the  Vassili  Blaggenoi 
in  Moscow. 


their  native  lands.  In  1475  the  Italian  architect  Rid.  Fioravanti  was 
summoned  from  Bologna  to  superintend  the  rebuilding  of  the  Church 
of  the  Assumption  of  the  Virgin  in  the  Kremlin ;  yet  he  seems  to 
have  been  desired  rather  as  a  skilful  constructor  than  as  a  designer, 
being  only  required  to  copy  the  Cathedral  of  Vladimir.  Hence 
the  nationality  of  the  architect  is  only  evident  in  the  decorative 
details  of  this  building,  the  five  turnip -shaped  cupolas  of  which 


;o 


EARLY  CHRISTIAN    AND   BYZANTINE   ARCHITECTURE. 


appear  decidedly  Asiatic.  The  Church  of  the  Annunciation  in  the 
Kremlin,  built  between  1489  and  1508,  bore  a  similar  relation  to  its 
architect,  an  Italian  by  the  name  of  Alvisio.  The  remarkable  edifice 
Vassili  Blagennoi  in  Moscow,  built  in  1554  by  Ivan  the  Cruel,  in 
commemoration  of  the  subjugation  of  Kazan  and  Astrachan,  shows 
the  ascendency  maintained  by  Oriental  elements  in  spite  of  the 
employment  of  Italian  and  German  builders.  The  whimsical  and 
overloaded  decorations  of  India,  Persia,  and  the  Mohammedan 


Fig-  4I-—  House  of  a  Russian  Boyar,  according  to  the  Restoration  of  Viollet  le  Due. 

East  were  here  lavishly  introduced.  Towers  and  cupolas,  with  a 
profusion  of  arches,  gables,  cornices,  and  disjointed  architectural 
forms,  were  so  dominant  as  almost  entirely  to  conceal  the  funda- 
mental construction.  The  eighteen  chapels  are  arranged  in  two 
stories,  in  a  manner  recklessly  unrelated,  and  the  whole  is  so  lack- 
ing in  unity  of  design  that  the  plan  seems  the  accidental  result  of 
the  changing  tastes  and  requirements  of  very  different  ages. 

This  inorganic  character  was,  in   great   measure,  owing  to  the 
prevalence  of  the  timbered  constructions  introduced  centuries  be- 


RUSSIA.  ;i 

fore  by  the  Asiatic  population  of  Russia.  The  Byzantine  style 
did  not  permit  the  application  of  this  method  of  building  to  the 
more  important  ecclesiastical  edifices,  but  in  domestic  architecture 
it  had  always  continued  to  be  practised  and  perfected.  The  dwell- 
ings throughout  the  country  were,  almost  without  exception,  built 
of  wood,  and  even  in  the  large  cities  there  were  no  houses  of  stone 
until  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  when  Occidental  customs 
were  beginning  to  be  introduced  into  Moscow.  The  architectural 
forms  determined  by  a  timbered  construction  allow  of  so  little  vari- 
ation that  the  wooden  houses  of  the  Alps  and  of  Russia  are  strik- 
ingly similar  in  general  appearance.  The  peculiarities  of  such.  Rus- 
sian structures  as  that  illustrated  by  Fig.  41  are  mainly  referable  to 
eastern  and  southern  Asiatic  types,  particularly  to  those  of  India. 
In  them  are  apparent  the  influence  of  primitive  Asiatic  carpenter- 
ing, introduced  into  Russia  over  the  Caspian  Sea  and  across  the 
Ural  Mountains,  and  this  element  of  design  was  maintained  in  full 
force  by  constant  communication  between  Russia  and  the  original 
home  of  the  Arian  race.  In  India  timbered  prototypes  can  be 
traced  even  in  grottos  hewn  from  the  native  rock.  In  Russia  the 
curves  of  the  wooden  roof  and  the  carved  and  turned  work  of  the 
smaller  members  were  similarly  transferred  to  a  monumental  archi- 
tecture of  stone,  and  with  them  came  also  such  confused  and  dis- 
jointed arrangements  of  plan  as  that  before  referred  to. 

It  is  evident  that  Indian  and  Persian  motives  are  readily  capa- 
ble of  combination  with  the  art  of  Russia,  while  it  is  no  less  certain 
that  the  forms  of  Oriental  and  Italian  renaissance,  which  have  been 
introduced  into  that  country  by  the  upper  classes  of  society,  are 
too  foreign  to  allow  of  their  assimilation. 

While  we  are  unable  to  assent,  in  all  particulars,  to  the  ingenious 
speculations  of  Viollet  le  Due  concerning  the  history  and  prospects 
of  Russian  art,  we  must  at  least  admit  that  a  further  advance  of  the 
national  architecture  in  the  directions  above  indicated  is  not  only 
possible,  but  full  of  promise  for  the  future. 


Fig.  42. — Orpheus  and  the  Animals.     Wall-painting  in  the  Catacomb  of  Calixtus. 


EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND    BYZANTINE    PAINT- 
ING  AND   SCULPTURE. 

THE  equilibrium  which  had  been  maintained  by  the  ancient 
Greeks  between  architecture,  painting,  and  sculpture,  had  been 
disturbed,  even  in  the  times  of  the  Romans,  by  a  decided  leaning  in 
favor  of  the  first  of  these  arts.  Among  the  Christians*  architecture 
fully  retained  this  supremacy,  but  the  relations  of  the  two  other  arts 
were  considerably  altered.  The  important  decorative  field  which 
had  been  assigned  to  painting  by  the  ancients  was  extended  as  the 
architectural  detail  gradually  disappeared,  while  sculpture  was  al- 
most entirely  withdrawn  from  monumental  tasks  and  restricted  to 
the  decoration  of  utensils.  But  neither  the  extension  nor  the  re- 
striction of  their  exercise  was  of  more  than  secondary  influence 
upon  their  artistic  character.  A  decadence  had  been  fully  declared 

*  L.  Ferret,  Catacombes  de  Rome.  Paris,  1851-1855.  6  voll.— Barbet  de  Jouy,  Les 
Mosalques  chretiennes  des  basiliques  et  des  eglises  de  Rome.  Paris,  1862. — J.  Labarte, 
Histoire  des  arts  industriels  au  moyen  age.  Paris,  1862-1866. — R.  Garucci,  Storia  dell' 
arte  cristiana  nei  primi  otto  secoli  della  chiesa.  Prato,  1874.  4  voll. — J.  P.  Richter,  Die 
Mosaiken  von  Ravenna.  Wien,  1878.— G.  B.  de  Rossi,  Musaici  cristiani.  Roma,  s.  a. 
Compare  also  the  works  referred  to  in  the  preceding  chapter. 


POSITION   OF   THE   CHURCH   TOWARDS   ART.  73 

before  a  Christian  art  began  to  grow  from  the  antique,  and  continu- 
ance led  only  to  a  still  deeper  debasement.  This  evil  state  of  affairs 
was  made  worse  by  the  limitation  of  sculpture  to  every-day  work, 
by  the  hasty  execution  of  the  paintings,  and  by  the  mechanical 
methods  adopted  by  the  mosaic  workers. 

Indications  of  the  preponderance  of  painting  over  sculpture  had 
indeed  been  perceptible  as  early  as  the  Alexandrian  and  the  Roman 
epochs  ;  but  the  change  did  not  become  absolute  until  the  general 
introduction  of  the  peculiar  views  of  Christianity.  In  contrast  to 
the  outwardness  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  religions,  the  inner  life  of 
Christianity  favored  painting,  as  more  expressive  of  the  feelings  of 
the  soul  than  sculpture.  In  the  former  art  a  comparative  lack  of 
beauty  of  form  is  much  less  felt  than  in  the  latter.  This  loss  of  ex- 
ternal loveliness  was  an  inevitable  result  of  the  general  decline  of  all 
artistic  work  in  the  Roman  Empire,  especially  after  the  second  cen- 
tury. It  agreed  well  with  the  spirit  of  early  Christianity,  which 
altogether  rejected  the  charms  of  the  senses,  being  particularly  de- 
sirous of  avoiding,  in  religious  representations,  the  adoption  of  the 
accustomed  types  of  antique  art, — that  is  to  say  the  ideal  human 
form.  In  agreement  with  the  description  of  the  prophet  Isaiah,  who 
had  announced  the  Messiah  as  of  "  no  form  nor  comeliness,"  and  as 
of  "  no  beauty,"  the  figure  of  Christ  was  conceived  by  the  fathers  of 
the  Church  in  direct  opposition  to  human  standards.  Thus  the  gen- 
eral debasement  of  art  and  the  conceptions  of  Christianity  worked 
together  to  destroy  that  perfection  of  outward  appearance  which  is 
the  vital  principle  of  all  art.  Sculpture  suffered  more  than  painting 
by  this  combination,  inasmuch  as  the  latter  could  more  easily  make 
up  for  the  loss  of  formal  beauty  by  the  expression  of  feeling.  The 
beginnings  of  Christian  painting,  as  they  are  seen  in  the  pre-Con- 
stantine  catacombs,  are  to  be  distinguished  from  the  contemporary 
works  of  pagan  Rome  only  by  modest  innovations,  and  by  more 
hasty  and  untrained  execution.  Architectural  perspectives,  such  as 
those  common  in  Pompeii,  do  not  appear  at  all.  The  simple  com- 
positions were  divided  into  panels,  between  which  were  introduced 
vases  of  fruit,  thyrsus-rods,  hanging  draperies  and  masks,  fluttering 
birds,  floating  genii,  dolphins,  and  various  mythological  beasts — the 
decorations  being  altogether  similar  to  those  of  the  Roman  colum- 


74  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   'AND   BYZANTINE   PAINTING. 

baria  (Fig.  43).  But  this  work  is  everywhere  poorer  and  less  artis- 
tic. The  excessive  zeal  of  Origen,  who  declared  the  admission  of 
sculptors  and  painters  into  Christian  communities  to  be  not  per- 
missible, certainly  did  not  result  in  their  entire  exclusion.  But  we 
find  nowhere  a  well-planned,  artistic  treatment,  nowhere  the  hand 
of  a  true  artist.  In  short,  primitive  Christianity  gave  no  impulse  to 
the  arts.  Representations  of  sacred  subjects  were  condemned  alto- 
gether by  Tertullian  and  Clemens  of  Alexandria,  at  the  beginning 


F'g-  43-— Decorated  Crypt  in  the  Catacomb  of  Calixtus,  called  that  of  Oceanus. 

of  the  third  century;  and  as  late  as  the  Council  of  Elvira  in  Spain, 
in  the  year  305,  paintings  of  holy  subjects  (quod  colitur  et  adoratur) 
were  forbidden.  The  fear  of  profanation  may  have  somewhat  in- 
fluenced this  decision,  though  it  cannot  have  been  of  great  weight. 
The  existence  of  the  danger  is,  however,  proved  by  the  discovery, 
in  1856,  of  a  sgraffito  upon  a  wall  on  the  southern  slope  of  the  Pal- 
atine, where  a  crucifix  is  shown  before  which  the  Christian  Alexa- 
menos  worships  the  Saviour,  who  is  portrayed  with  the  head  of  an 
ass.  The  fear  that  artistic  representations  might  provide  cause  and 


CHRISTIAN   SYMBOLS   AND   ALLEGORIES.  75 

proof  for  persecution  was  certainly  a  more  important  consideration  ; 
and  there  was  always  a  certain  solicitude  that  pictures  might  prove 
a  temptation  to  return  to  heathen  idolatry,  a  traditional  distrust 
which  had  not  been  weakened  through  its  inheritance  by  the  Chris- 
tians from  the  Jews.  The  converted  Israelites  had  strong  preju- 
dices, national  as  well  as  religious,  against  art,  and  these  prejudices 
were  naturally  accepted  by  the  Gentiles  who  entered  the  Christian 
communities. 

Nevertheless,  the  asceticism  of  the  fathers  of  the  Church  cannot 
have  been  entirely  in  harmony  with  the  conceptions  of  Occidental 
converts,  who  had  long  been  accustomed  to  painted  and  sculpt- 
ured representations  of  the  human  figure.  The  laymen  were  not 
always  sufficiently  imbued  with  religious  transcendentalism  to  be- 
come wholly  freed  from  the  pleasures  of  the  senses.  The  varied 
scenes  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  offered  as  wide  a  scope  for 
the  imagination  of  the  artists  as  had  previously  been  found  in  the 
classic  poems,  which  had  provided  the  subjects  for  Greek  and  Roman 
works  of  art.  The  metaphors  and  parables,  among  the  most  salient 
features  of  the  Christian  doctrines,  led  to  the  common  employment 
of  allegorical  representations,  which  had  the  further  advantage  of 
being  comprehended  only  by  the  initiated,  thus  providing  no  incen- 
tive to  profanation  or  persecution.  Owing  to  these  reasons  alle- 
gories were  favored  from  the  earliest  times,  and,  by  the  middle  of 
the  second  century,  had  become  general  in  Christian  art.  They 
appear  simultaneously  with  the  before -mentioned  classical  and 
mythological  decorations,  indifferent  to  the  Christian  conceptions 
of  that  age ;  and  so  universal  was  this  manner  of  expression  that 
Clemens  of  Alexandria,  who  was  otherwise  decidedly  opposed  to 
pictures  and  images,  even  attempted  to  reduce  the  allegories  most 
commonly  employed  to  a  system. 

The  better  known  symbols,  such  as  those  occurring  upon  the 
coffers  of  the  catacombs,  can  scarcely  be  considered  as  works  of  art. 
Chief  among  these  is  the  figure  of  the  cross,  which  at  times  is  com- 
bined with  the  monogram  of  Christ,  or  is  indicated  by  the  form  of 
an  anchor  or  of  a  ship  with  disproportionately  long  main-yards :  the 
simplest  characters  being  regarded  as  the  most  fitting  because  ap- 
proaching most  nearly  to  writing.  The  favorite  A  and  Q  are,  in- 


76  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE    PAINTING. 

deed,  of  later  date,  but  the  word  IX6YS  (fish)  was  early  introduced, 
its  separate  letters  being  the  initials  of  the  words  'Irjaouc  Xp«rroC 
0£ou  Ymc  SwriV  (Jesus  Christ  the  Son  of  God,  the  Redeemer). 
Most  of  the  pictorial  symbols  are  of  a  very  simple  nature,  such  as 
bread,  chalice,  olive-branch,  palm,  wreath,  vine,  and  sheep,  or  fish, 
dove,  peacock,  cock,  phcenix,  lamb,  and  stag.  To  the  same  category 
belong  the  attributes  of  the  Evangelists,  which,  without  doubt,  were 
derived  from  the  combinations  of  winged  animals  universal  among 
the  earlier  Semitic  nations,  these  being  at  first  assigned,  without 
definite  discrimination,  to  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  and  John. 

Such  simple  ornaments,  or  rather  secret  signs,  when  employed 
for  the  decoration  of  larger  surfaces,  could  not  long  satisfy  either  the 
clergy  or  the  builders,  and  accordingly  we  find  that,  notwithstanding 
the  deprecating  attitude  of  the  elders  of  the  Church,  representations 
from  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  appear  among  the  ornamental 
wall-paintings  in  the  cemeteries  of  the  second  century.      These 
were 'not  always  merely  symbolical,  as  is  evident  from  the  ceme- 
teries of  Domitillae,  Priscillae,  and  Praetextati.   That  such  decorations 
were  not  absolutely  excluded  by  the  Church  is  proved  by  the  Ne- 
cropolis of  Calixtus,  which  was  under  its  special  supervision.     Still 
it  may  be  assumed  that  the  ecclesiastical  authorities  were  more  in- 
clined to  permit  allegorical  presentation  of  mystic  symbols,  which 
were  easily  understood  by  the  initiated,  than  paintings  of  biblical 
scenes.     Examples  of  such  symbolism  are  the  harvesting  of  grapes 
and  olives  by  genii, — Amor  and  Psyche, — and,  notably,  Orpheus  play- 
ing upon  the  lyre  (Fig.  42),  the  mystic  virtue  of  which  is  praised 
by  Clemens  of  Alexandria,  before  the  end  of  the  second  century,— 
that  is  to  say,  before  the  statues  of  Christ  and  of  Orpheus  had  been 
placed  side  by  side  in  the  Lararium  of  the  Emperor  Alexander 
Severus,  and  the  Christian  doctrines  thus  brought  in  direct  parallel 
with  antique  mythology.     The  banqueting  scenes,  which  had  long 
before  been  common  in  ancient  graves,  were  readily  referred  by  the 
faithful  to  the  miracle  at  Cana,  to  the  miracle  of  the  loaves  and 
fishes,  and  to  the  eucharist,  hence  becoming  popular  at  a  very  early 
period.     The  Old  Testament  provided  subjects  for  historical  paint- 
ings before  the  New,  scenes  prophetic  of  Christianity  being  pre- 
ferred.    Chief  among  these  are  the  Fall  of  Man  (Fig.  45),  the  Offer- 


BIBLICAL   SCENES. 


77 


ings  of  Cain  and  Abel,  Noah  with  the  dove  (Fig.  44),  the  Sacrifice 
of  Isaac,  Moses  at  the  rock  (Fig.  45)  and  on  Mount  Sinai,  Daniel 
in  the  lion's  den,  the  three  youths  in  the  fiery  furnace,  and  Jonah 
swallowed  by  the  whale,  vomited  forth  again,  and  sleeping  under  the 
gourd  (Fig.  45) — these  last  being  of  frequent  occurrence  as  symbolical 
of  the  death  and  resurrection  of  Christ.  Subjects  from  the  New 
Testament  are  more  rare,  and  scenes  of  the  Passion  are  almost  en- 
tirely lacking.  The  awakening  of  Lazarus,  as  typical  of  the  resur- 
rection of  the  dead,  is  frequent  in  places  of  burial,  while  the  miracu- 


Fig.  44. — Noah  in  the  Ark.     Wall-painting  in  the  Catacomb  of  Calixtus. 

lous  healing  of  the  blind,  the  lame,  and  the  woman  with  the  issue 
of  blood  are  also  represented.  The  parable  of  the  Good  Shepherd 
(Fig.  45)  offered  a  most  fitting  illustration  of  the  relation  of  Christ 
to  the  Church,  and  was  especially  common  because  free  from  the 
iconic  tendencies  so  displeasing  to  the  fathers.  Images  of  Christ 
himself  do  not  occur  among  the  paintings  of  the  pre-Constantine 
catacombs,  and  the  Virgin  was  only  introduced  in  the  scene  of  the 
Adoration  of  the  Magi.,  Portraits  of  the  Apostles  and  of  eminent 
individuals  of  the  Christian  community  are  also  met  with,  the  dead 
being  usually  shown  in  an  attitude  of  prayer  with  uplifted  hands. 


78  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE    PAINTING. 

The  method  of  painting  was  either  fresco  or  secco,  according  as 
it  was  executed  at  the  same  time  with  the  plastering  or  was  after- 
wards applied  upon  an  old  and  dry  ground.  Color  and  .modelling 
were  equally  rude  and  inartistic,  the  former  being  often  restricted 
to  local  tones  without  effects  of  chiaroscuro,  the  latter  limited  to  a 
simple  drawing  of  brown  lines.  The  whole  design  was  very  corn- 


Fig.  45.— Fresco  in  the  Catacomb  of  S.  Agnese.     The  Good  Shepherd  and  other  represen- 
tations. 

monly  carried  out  in  two  colors,  a  reddish  brown  and  a  bluish  green. 
The  ornamental  details  were  rapidly  painted  with  a  full  brush  upon 
the  light  background,  without  geometrical  exactness,  but  in  well 
subordinated  colors ;  decorative  foliage,  birds,  and  genii  sometimes 
appear  in  a  monochromatic  treatment.  The  execution  is  never  care- 
ful and  accurate,  but  a  certain  taste  and  facility  are  observable.  As 


BASILICA   OF  JUNIUS   BASSUS.  79 

might  be  supposed  from  the  serious  frame  of  mind  natural  to  paint- 
ers working  in  these  subterranean  tombs,  the  general  character  of 
the  representations  is  quiet  and  even  solemn,  but  they  offer  little 
expression  of  that  inner  life  of  the  soul  which  devout  believers  of 
the  present  day  so  often  expect  to  find.  The  number  of  figures 
taking  part  in  the  sacred  scenes  is  small  and  their  attitudes  conven- 
tional, so  that  the  general  impression  is  rather  symbolic  than  histor- 
ical and  real. 

Before  the  age  of  Constantine  Christian  painting  was  almost  en- 
tirely restricted  to  the  subterranean  cemeteries.  It  appears  proba- 
ble that  the  places  of  worship  above-ground  were  as  rarely  deco- 
rated with  Christian  subjects  as  they  were  erected  for  Christian 
purposes.  The  Basilica  of  Junius  Bassus  in  Rome,  built  by  him  in 
the  year  317  for  pagan  use,  and  given  to  the  Church  in  470  by  Fl. 
Valila  (afterwards  known  as  S.  Andrea  in  Catabarbara),  proves  how 
little  objection  the  early  Christians  made  to  the  retention  of  pro- 
fane wall-paintings  already  existing  in  halls  consecrated  to  the  new 
worship.  Pope  Simplicius  considered  it  only  necessary  to  give  the 
apse  a  Christian  character  by  the  introduction  of  new  mosaics,  and 
the  walls  of  the  Basilica  retained  their  original  adornments  until  the 
unfortunate  demolition  of  the  entire  edifice  in  the  sixteenth  century. 
These  decorations  (Fig.  46),  known  by  descriptions  and  drawings 
made  shortly  before  their  destruction,  were  executed  in  a  truly 
magnificent  incrustation  (opus  scctile\  of  the  most  costly  materials, 
and  represented  various  mythological  subjects  and  scenes  from  pro- 
fane history.  In  the  times  before  Constantine  the  Christians  appear 
to  have  been  even  more  conservative.  But  when,  after  the  cessation 
of  the  persecutions,  Christianity  emerged  from  the  gloomy  cata- 
combs, and  buildings  were  erected  solely  for  ecclesiastical  purposes, 
painting  found  an  important  field  in  the  enormous  wall-surfaces  of 
the  basilicas,  which  needed  the  adornment  of  color  the  more  because 
of  their  poverty  in  architectural  memberment. 

This  adornment  took  the  form  of  mosaics,  a  manner  of  decora- 
tion which  had  been  employed  for  floors  from  the  earliest  times,  but 
which  previously  had  only  in  rare  instances  been  extended  to  walls. 
The  introduction  of  perspective  views,  and  especially  of  such  figure 
subjects  as  occur  in  the  mosaics  of  Pompeii,  is  not  aesthetically  jus- 


So  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   PAINTING. 

tifiable  in  the  ornamentation  of  a  level  floor,  which  should  be  re- 
stricted to  flat  patterns.  It  was  with  a  just  appreciation  of  this 
principle  of  design  that  the  Christians  greatly  simplified  the  inlaying 
of  their  pavements.  For  the  elaborate  decoration  of  walls,  on  the 

other  hand,  mosaic  work 
offered  a  rich  and  mon- 
umental  method    of   in- 
crustation, the  brilliancy 
and  permanency  of  which 
were  effective  even  when 
the    artistic    design    and 
execution  were  mediocre. 
This   work   was   not    in- 
tended   to    be    seen    in 
very  close  proximity  ;    it 
was  applied  only  to  the 
upper  part   of  the  walls 
of  the  apse,  the  triumph- 
al   arch,   the    nave,    and 
sometimes,  also,  to    the 
facade    of   the   basilicas, 
and  to  the  conches  and 
cupolas  of  the  churches 
of  concentric  plan, — the 
lower  part   of  the  walls 
being      simply      reveted 
with     slabs     of    colored 
marble. 

In  the  time  of  Con- 
stantine  pictorial  mosa- 
ics must  have  been  rare. 

In  those  parts  of  the  Baptistery  of  the  Lateran  and  of  the  Mort- 
uary Chapel  of  Constantia  where  the  original  construction  still  re- 
mains, decorations  of  this  kind  are  limited  to  golden  foliage  upon 
blue  ground,  with  birds,  genii,  and  various  Christian  symbols  in  the 
panels.  The  first  connected  compositions  probably  made  their  ap- 
pearance in  the  apses.  The  oldest  known  example  is  the  mosaic  of 


Fig.  46. — Wall -decoration  of  the  Basilica  of  Junius 
Bassus.  After  a  drawing  by  A.  da  Sangallo,  now 
in  the  Barberini  Library. 


APSE   OF   S.  PUDENZIANA. 


8l 


S.  Pudenziana  in  Rome,  dating  to  the  end  of  the  fourth  century 
(Fig.  47).  It  represents  Christ  enthroned  in  the  middle  of  a  low 
exedra,  beyond  the  tiled  roof  of  which  are  seen  the  buildings  of  the 
Heavenly  Jerusalem  and  a  hill  surmounted  by  a  cross.  At  the  feet 
of  the  Saviour  sit  ten  of  the  twelve  apostles, — the  two  missing,  and 
the  lower  part  of  the  bodies  of  those  remaining,  were  obliterated 
during  the  restoration  made  in  the  year  1588.  The  characteristic 
attitudes  and  the  expression  of  the  faces  are  still  apparent,  —  the 
relative  importance  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  who  are  seen  in  profile, 
being  indicated  by  their  positions  next  to  the  throne.  Behind  them 


Fig.  47. — Mosaic  in  the  Apse  of  S.  Pudenziana  in  Rome. 

stand  two  women  holding  wreaths,  who  may  be  considered  either  as 
S.  Pudenziana  and  St.  Praxedis,  or  as  representatives  of  the  Church 
of  the  Jews  and  the  Church  of  the  Gentiles.  The  symbols  of 
the  Evangelists  float  above  in  the  blue  sky,  which  is  streaked  with 
light  clouds.  The  design  is  not  without  life  and  truth,  being  in  this 
respect  equal  to  the  best  frescos  in  the  catacombs  of  the  third  and 
fourth  century,  while  it  far  surpasses  them  in  correctness  and  beauty 
of  form  and  in  mechanical  execution. 

The  superiority  of  the  mosaics  over  the  wall-paintings  is  not 
due  to  any  improvement  in  the  general  style  of  art ;  this  could  only 
have  been  brought  about  through  the  introduction  of  entirely  new 

6 


82  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   PAINTING. 

elements.  But  the  influence  of  the  altered  position  of  the  Church 
in  regard  to  pictorial  decorations  is  sufficiently  plain,  —  an  active 
encouragement  having,  in  the  course  of  years,  taken  the  place  of 
the  decided  disapprobation  at  first  felt  in  regard  to  all  representa- 
tions of  the  human  form.  Constantine,  Valentinian,  Valens,  and 
Gratian  had  accorded  important  privileges  to  painters  and  mosaic 
workers,  and  these,  as  well  as  other  emperors,  had  repeatedly  rec- 
ommended the  preservation  of  antique  masterpieces  as  the  best 
models.  The  effect  of  this  was  greatly  to  improve  the  training  of 
all  artists,  and  mention  is  particularly  made  that  in  Antioch  the 
schools  of  the  rhetoricians  and  philosophers  were  deserted,  while 
the  studios  of  painters  and  sculptors  were  crowded.  But  all  such 
protection  and  encouragement  were  of  little  more  avail  than  is 
medical  aid  to  a  hopelessly  decrepit  body :  the  limits  of  life  might 
be  somewhat  extended,  and  disease  for  a  time  arrested,  but  the  or- 
ganism could  not  be  rejuvenated  by  such  means. 

The  works  of  the  fifth  century  show  a  still  further  decadence, 
well  illustrated  by  such  examples  as  the  mosaic  on  the  front  wall 
of  S.  Sabina,  executed  between  the  years  422  and  432,  representing 
personifications  of  the  Church  of  the  Jews  and  the  Church  of  the 
Gentiles,  —  the  series  of  biblical  scenes  on  the  lateral  walls  of 
S.  Maria  Maggiore  (A.  D.  432-440),  —  and  especially  the  mosaic 
upon  the  triumphal  arch  of  S.  Paolo  fuori  le  mura,  which  is  to  be 
ascribed  to  the  year  440  (Fig.  48).  The  last  of  these  is  so  inferior 
to  the  historical  subjects  depicted  in  S.  Maria  Maggiore,  that  were 
it  not  for  the  certainty  derived  from  an  inscription  of  the  Empress 
Galla  Placidia,  we  should  hardly  believe  so  great  a  deterioration 
possible  in  so  short  a  time,  and  should  have  assumed  a  much  later 
date.  The  figures  of  the  apostles  at  the  bottom  of  the  arch  still 
maintain  a  certain  classic  correctness  and  dignity,  but  the  drawing 
of  the  breast  and  the  expression  of  the  face  of  Christ  are  barbar- 
ously distorted,  and  the  gestures  of  the  twenty-four  elders  of  the 
Church  helpless  and  wooden.  The  background  of  gold,  at  that  time 
not  common  in  Rome,  and  the  Byzantine  nationality  of  the  Empress 
who  presented  this  mosaic  to  the  Church,  naturally  lead  to  the  sup- 
position that  we  have  here  to  deal  with  the  work  of  designers  from 
Ravenna,  who  had  not  been  able  to  profit  by  the  opportunities  for 


TRIUMPHAL   ARCH   OF   S.  PAOLO.  83 

studying  the  antique  models  through  which  the  artists  of  Rome 
itself  still  preserved  the  slight  degree  of  classic  excellence  apparent 
in  the  decorations  of  S.  Maria  Maggiore. 

The  characteristics  of  the  mosaic  upon  the  triumphal  arch  of 
S.  Paolo  are  to  be  considered  rather  as  due  to  what  may  be  called 
proto-Byzantine  influences,  than  taken  as  direct  evidences  of  the 
debasement  of  Roman  art  in  the  fifth  century.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  mosaic  in  the  apse  of  SS.  Cosma  e  Damiano  (Fig.  49),  which  is 
nearly  a  hundred  years  later  than  the  preceding  work,  is  in  every 


Fig.  48.— Mosaic  on  the  Triumphal  Arch  of  S.  Paolo  fuori  le  mura  in  Rome. 

way  an  example  of  such  debasement,  and  may  perhaps  be  regarded 
as  the  last  monument  of  early  Christian  art  in  Rome.  The  figure 
of  Christ  stands  in  the  centre,  the  right  arm  uplifted  in  the  atti- 
tude of  teaching,  while  the  patrons  of  the  Church,  St.  Cosmo  and 
St.  Damian,  advance  upon  either  side,  preceded  by  the  four  chief 
apostles.  In  general  composition,  as  well  as  in  the  proportion  of 
the  figures  and  the  drapery,  this  work  is  far  superior  to  that  in 
S.  Paolo  ;  but  even  here  a  certain  senile  degeneration  may  be  ob- 
served in  the  heads  of  the  saints,  and  the  color  and  shadows  of  the 
garments  display  a  greater  degree  of  hardness  than  can  be  explained 


84  EARLY  CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   PAINTING. 

and  excused  by  the  inherent  defects  of  mosaic  work.  The  diligence 
and  exactness  required  by  this  mode  of  execution  had  indeed  been 
of  beneficial  effect,  and  the  hasty  and  careless  style  of  the  frescos 
in  the  catacombs  had  been  entirely  avoided;  but  the  inlaying  of 
small  cubes  of  colored  glass  and  stone  was  no  less  attended  with 
signal  disadvantages.  A  harmonious  blending  of  color  was  ex- 
tremely difficult  to  attain,  and  the  greatest  possible  care  in  execu- 
tion could  not  compensate  for  the  lost  sense  of  artistic  composition, 


Fig.  49.— Mosaic  in  the  Apse  of  SS.  Cosma  e  Damiano  in  Rome. 

and  of  just  relation  between  the  figures  and  the  landscape  of  the 
background,  which,  in  some  slight  degree  at  least,  had  been  main- 
tained in  the  mosaic  of  S.  Pudenziana.  In  later  works  the  figures 

o 

stand  isolated  like  statues,  the  heads  are  all  full-face,  while  the  sky 
and  landscape,  entirely  without  perspective,  are  nothing  more  than 
conventional  indications. 

It  would  not  be  justifiable  to  speak  of  a  style  of  mosaic  pecul- 
iarly Roman ;  but  it  is  probable  that,  throughout  Italy,  the  work- 
ers in  this  branch  during  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries  came  under 
Roman  influence,  equally  with  all  other  Italian  artists  of  that  period. 


MOSAICS   OF   RAVENNA.  85 

The  mosaics  of  Milan,  in  SS.  Satiro  e  Aquilino,  and  of  Naples,  in 
the  Baptistery  of  the  Cathedral,  do  not  contradict  this  assumption. 
In  Ravenna,  however,  there  appears  at  an  early  period  a  certain 
independence,  or,  to  speak  more  correctly,  a  combination  of  Occi- 
dental and  Oriental  motives  in  which  the  latter  are  the  more  promi- 
nent. As  has  been  pointed  out  in  treating  of  the  architecture  of 
Ravenna,  this  combination  was  determined  by  the  position  and 
commercial  relations  of  that  city,  even  at  the  time  when  it  was 
still  the  chosen  capital  of  the  Emperor  of  the  West ;  and  these  in- 
fluences naturally  became  still  more  decisive  when  it  was  subse- 
quently degraded  to  a  mere  official  residence  of  a  Byzantine  exarch, 
in  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century,  after  fifty  years'  subjugation  to 
the  Ostrogoths. 

The  mosaics  of  Ravenna,  antedating  the  age  of  Justinian,  do 
not  greatly  differ  from  contemporary  Roman  works.  The  artistic 
character  of  those  in  the  Baptistery  of  the  Orthodox  sect  (S.  Gio- 
vanni in  Fonte,  built  between  the  years  425  and  430)  and  those  of 
the  Mortuary  Chapel  of  Galla  Placidia  (SS.  Nazaro  e  Celso,  built 
before  the  year  450)  is  superior  to  that  of  the  mosaics  in  the 
Basilica  of  S.  Paolo  in  Rome ;  and  these  effective  decorations  have 
the  advantage  of  being  seen  entire,  and  in  a  comparatively  perfect 
state  of  preservation.  The  figures  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  in  the 
cupola  of  the  Baptistery,  and  of  the  Good  Shepherd  in  the  tympa- 
non  above  the  entrance  to  the  mortuary  chapel,  have,  in  composi- 
tion, drawing,  action,  and  picturesque  conception,  better  preserved 
the  antique  traditions  of  good  workmanship  than  any  Roman  mo- 
saic, with  the  exception  of  that  in  the  apse  of  S.  Pudenziana.  Still, 
the  superior  beauty  of  these  figures  may,  in  great  measure,  be 
attributed  to  the  individual  ability  of  the  artists  who  executed 
them.  And,  as  in  all  the  other  decorations  of  these  two  build- 
ings, a  certain  coarseness  of  detail  is  apparent,  from  which  the 
Roman  works  were  free,  at  least  until  the  beginning  of  the  sixth 
century. 

It  is  not  strange  that  the  mosaics,  dating  to  the  period  when 
Ravenna  was  occupied  by  the  Ostrogoths,  A.D.  497  to  553,  often 
show  the  work  of  untrained  hands.  This  is  the  case  in  the  Baptis- 
tery of  the  Arians  (S.  Maria  in  Cosmedin)  and  in  the  Court  Church 


86  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   PAINTING. 

of  Theodoric  (the  Basilica  of  S.  Martino  in  coelo  aureo),  afterwards 
known  as  S.  Apollinare  nuovo.  The  influences  which  introduced 
into  architecture  the  barbarous  style  of  the  Palace  fa$ade  and  the 
Tomb  of  Theodoric  appeared  also  in  the  incrusted  decorations  of 
the  walls, — closely  as  these  were  imitated  from  earlier  works  of  the 
kind  in  Ravenna.  The  mosaics  in  the  nave  of  S.  Martino  in  coelo 
aureo,  for  the  greater  part  contemporaneous  with  the  erection  of 
that  building,  are  almost  perfectly  preserved,  and  are  particularly 
interesting  on  account  of  their  subjects :  the  scene  of  the  Passion 
being  represented,  with  omission  of  the  more  painful  episodes  of 
the  Scourging  of  Christ,  the  Crown  of  Thorns,  and  the  Crucifixion. 

After  the  expulsion  of  the  Ostrogoths  from  Northern  Italy  the 
country  became  a  Byzantine  province,  and  Oriental  influences  en- 
tirely superseded  these  traces  of  northern  barbarism.  As  has  been 
previously  shown,  in  the  consideration  of  the  architecture  of  the 
Eastern  Empire,  the  characteristics  of  Byzantine  art  had  been  de- 
termined, in  the  new  capital  on  the  Bosporus,  by  that  combination 
of  Graeco- Roman  and  Oriental  elements  from  which  resulted  the 
popular  civilization,  the  religion,  and  the  imperialism  of  the  East. 
These  characteristics  are  even  more  strikingly  evident  in  the  paint- 
ings and  in  the  monumental  decorations  than  in  the  architecture 
of  Byzantium.  They  exhibit  most  clearly  the  servile  subjugation 
of  the  people,  the  luxurious  and  magnificent  ceremonial  of -the 
Court  and  Church,  the  crafty  despotism  of  the  emperors,  in  contrast 
to  the  republicanism  which  still  retained  its  hold  upon  the  western 
world,  and  the  low  superstition  which  had  taken  the  place  of  the 
comparatively  apostolic  relations  of  Roman  Christianity. 

Some  evidences  of  this  are  observable  in  Ravenna  after  the  di- 
vision of  the  empire  in  A.  D.  395  ;  but  when  the  city  was  made  the 
residence  of  the  Exarch  of  the  East  it  became  even  more  Byzantine 
than  Byzantium  itself.  Only  a  few  years  after  the  completion  of 
the  classic  mosaics  in  the  apse  of  the  Roman  Basilica  of  St.  Cosmo 
and  St.  Damian,  there  appeared  in  Ravenna  a  number  of  Byzantine 
works  by  which  a  new  era  of  Christian  art  may  be  said  to  have  been 
inaugurated.  Among  these  are  the  lower  series  of  mosaics  in  the 
nave  of  S.  Apollinare  nuovo,  and  a  fragment  of  a  portrait  of  Jus- 
tinian in  the  chapel  of  All  Saints  in  the  same  church  (Fig.  50), — the 


MOSAICS   OF   RAVENNA.  87 

mosaics  in  the  private  chapel  of  the  Archiepiscopal  Palace,— and, 
notably,  those  in  the  choir  of  S.  Vitale,  which  building  has  been  al- 
ready described  as  one  of  the  earliest  churches  of  extended  con- 
centric plan.  The  forensic  dress,  still  universal  in  Roman  repre- 
sentations, is  here  exchanged  for  courtly  and  liturgic  garments,  the 
forms  and  attitudes  being  cramped  and  stiffened  to  a  mere  parade, 


Fig.  50. — Mosaic  Portrait  of  the  Emperor  Justinian  in  the  Chapel  of  All  Saints  of 
S.  Apollinare  nuovo  in  Ravenna. 

which  takes  the  place  of  all  freedom  of  action,  truth  to  nature,  and, 
consequently,  of  all  ideal  beauty.  The  proportions  of  the  human 
body  are  neglected  and  incorrect,  and  even  those  parts,  like  the 
face,  hands,  and  feet,  which  are  not  hidden  by  the  pretentious  gar- 
ments and  accessories,  have  lost  not  only  their  natural  but  their 
traditionally  correct  forms ;  the  extremities  are  more  and  more  re- 
duced in  size,  and  a  certain  senile  expression  appears  in  faces  both 


88  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND    BYZANTINE   PAINTING. 

old  and  young.  A  dead  and  cold  asceticism  has  taken  the  place 
of  observation  and  delight  in  healthy  nature. 

This  change  of  style  is  most  noticeable  in  the  treatment  of 
unusual  subjects.  In  the  accustomed  religious  representations  a 
certain  imitation  of  the  early  Christian  and  Roman  types  was  un- 
avoidable, as  is  evident  in  the  group  in  one  of  the  conches  of  S. 
Vitale,  where  Christ  appears  enthroned  between  St.  Vitalis  and  the 
founder  of  the  church,  Bishop  Ecclesius, — this  being  in  all  proba- 
bility the  oldest  mosaic  in  the  building,  and  consequently  referable 
to  the  time  before  Justinian.  Very  different  is  the  portrayal  of 
those  new  subjects  which  in  themselves  agreed  so  well  with  Byzan- 
tine conceptions,  such  as  the  two  ceremonial  pictures  in  the  choir, 
representing  upon  one  side  the  Emperor  Justinian,  surrounded  by 
his  senators  and  guards,  and  accompanied  by  the  Bishop  Max- 
imian  and  his  ecclesiastical  officials,  and  on  the  other  the  Empress 
Theodora,  carrying  a  votive  offering  and  followed  by  the  ladies  of 
her  court.  (Fig'  51.)  In  contrast  to  the  almost  contemporaneous 
mosaic  in  the  apse  of  SS.  Cosma  e  Damiano  the  modelling  is  here 
nothing  more  than  a  hard  outline  of  straight  bars.  As  was  once 
the  case  in  Assyria,  the  diadems  of  pearls,  the  necklaces  and  em- 
broideries, the  patterns  of  stuffs  and  borders  are  made  the  most 
prominent  and  important  features.  The  lineaments  of  the  stiff  and 
ugly  faces  are  rendered  in  hard,  broad  lines ;  the  staring  eyes  are 
too  large ;  the  cramped  hands  and  helpless  feet  have  lost  all  organic 
connection  with  the  body,  of  which  but  little  is  to  be  seen  behind 
the  long  and  badly  drawn  garments. 

In  the  other  mosaics  of  S.  Vitale  we  find  the  same  stiffness  and 
awkwardness  of  the  outlines,  the  same  senility  and  vacancy  of  the 
features, — in  short,  the  same  perversion  of  old  artistic  traditions,  and 
incapacity  in  dealing  with  new  tasks.  The  mannerism  is  so  pervasive 
that  all  individual  character,  all  organic  movement,  all  human  sen- 
timent is  entirely  absent.  The  study  of  earlier  works  of  art,  which 
had  long  taken  the  place  of  a  direct  observation  of  nature,  was 
neglected.  In  order  to  convey  to  the  observer  any  conception  of 
the  scene  depicted,  the  chief  attention  was  devoted  to  the  merely 
exterior  accessories ;  the  lifeless  forms  were  imitated  from  conven- 
tional types,  which,  in  course  of  time,  had  been  empirically  deter- 


MOSAICS   OF   RAVENNA. 


89 


mined.  These  types,  far  removed  from  any  ideal  perfection  of  the 
human  body,  these  figures  of  saints  without  physical  and  without 
psychical  character,  were  at  last  to  be  distinguished  only  by  the 
names  inscribed  at  their  sides.  The  value  of  the  mosaics  was  re- 
duced to  the  general  effect  of  their  colors  as  seen  in  the  dim  in- 
terior of  the  Byzantine  churches,  the  richness  of  this  decoration 
being  dependent  chiefly  upon  the  harmonious  tones  of  the  pat- 
terned stuffs  and  jewelled  borders  of  the  draperies,  the  designs  of 
which  were  generally  borrowed  from  Oriental  motives. 


Fig.  51.— The  Empress  Theodora  with  the  Ladies  of  her  Court  in  S.  Vitale.     Mosaic  in 

that  Church. 

In  Ravenna  the  difference  between  the  mosaics  of  S.  Vitale  and 
the  others  of  this  debased  style  is  so  slight  that  it  is  difficult  to 
class  them  chronologically.  The  incrusted  decorations  in  the  Basil- 
ica of  S.  Apollinare  in  Classe  are  even  harder  and  stiffer  than  those 
of  the  before-mentioned  church,  but  this  may  perhaps  be  explained 
by  the  fact  that  few  of  these  works  are  contemporaneous  with  the 
original  building  of  the  Basilica,  which  was  dedicated  in  the  year 
549,  while  those  in  the  lower  part,  representing  the  ceremonial 
grant  of  privileges  to  Bishop  Reparatus  (?)  by  Constantine  IV., 


90  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE    PAINTING. 

Heraclius,  and  Tiberius,  may  be  as  recent  as  the  years  between  672 
and  677.  Moreover,  the  restorations  of  these  mosaics  have  been  so 
numerous  that  the  conclusions  arrived  at  from  their  present  appear- 
ance are  perhaps  deceptive. 

In  Rome,  also,  after  the  end  of  the  sixth  century,  two  influences 
combined  to  hasten  the  degeneration  of  mosaic  work :  on  the  one 
hand  the  introduction  of  barbarous  elements  into  the  native  art ; 
on  the  other  the  imitation  of  Byzantine  models.  Both  these  ten- 
dencies are  recognizable  in  the  mosaic  upon  the  triumphal  arch  in 
S.  Lorenzo  fuori  le  mura,  which  was  probably  executed  under  Pope 
Pelagius  II.  (A.  D.  578-590),  and  now  appears  upon  the  inner  side 
of  the  arch  because  of  the  addition,  in  later  times,  of  a  chief  nave  in 
place  of  the  original  apse.  The  same  characteristics  are  evident  in 
a  similar  mosaic  in  the  apse  of  S.  Teodoro,  on  the  north-western 
slope  of  the  Palatine,  and  especially  in  the  extensive  incrustations 
in  the  apse  of  S.  Agnese,  which  probably  date  to  the  original  con- 
struction of  that  edifice  in  the  years  between  625  and  638  (Fig. 
52).  The  latter  example  is  without  parallel  in  stiffness  and  man- 
nerism, in  the  excessively  long  proportions  of  the  human  body,  the 
cramped  and  diminutive  extremities,  in  flatness  of  the  draperies 
and  the  formlessness  of  their  wide  borders.  The  works  subsequent 
to  the  middle  of  the  seventh  century,  like  the  mosaics  in  the  apse 
of  S.  Venanzio,  a  chapel  of  the  Baptistery  of  the  Lateran,  and  those 
of  S.  Stefano  rotondo  are  similar  in  general  character  to  the  dec- 
orations of  S.  Agnese.  The  mosaic  on  the  triumphal  arch  of  S. 
Nereo  ed  Achilleo,  near  the  Baths  of  Caracalla,  those  in  the  apse 
of  S.  Maria  della  navicella  on  the  Caelius,  and  in  that  of  S.  Pras- 
sede,  show  that  the  influence  of  the  energetic  Leo  III.,  the  con- 
temporary of  Charlemagne,  could  do  little  more  than  delay  for  a 
short  time  the  continually  progressing  debasement  of  the  art.  The 
mosaics  in  the  apses  of  S.  Cecilia  and  S.  Marco  are  again  distinctly 
inferior  to  those  preceding  them,  and  mark  a  further  stage  in  the 
decline  towards  barbarism. 

In  the  Eastern  Empire,  the  true  home  of  Byzantine  art,  fewer 
specimens  of  the  earliest  mosaic  works  have  been  preserved  than 
are  found  in  Ravenna  and  Rome.  Indications  seem  to  show  that, 
in  the  ages  before  Justinian,  painting  in  the  Orient  was  almost  en- 


MOSAICS   OF   THE   EASTERN    EMPIRE. 


91 


tirely  dependent  upon  Occidental  schools, — the  influence  of  the 
farther  East,  in  this  branch  of  art,  not  making  itself  felt  before  the 
middle  of  the  sixth  century.  The  mosaics  in  the  Church  of  St. 
George  in  Salonica  are  similar 
in  style  to  those  in  the  two 
Baptisteries  of  Ravenna,  and 
do  not  exhibit  the  specifically 
Byzantine  character  described 
above.  Even  in  some  of  the 
incrustations  in  the  Church  of 
St.  Sophia  in  Constantinople, 
which  possibly  are  as  old  as  the 
time  of  Justinian,  there  is  still 
evident  a  certain  classic  spirit 
of  design, — the  last  attempt  to 
maintain  the  artistic  traditions 
of  the  antique.  But  it  is  im- 
possible to  refer  with  certainty 
any  of  the  mosaics  in  this  chief 
church  of  Byzantium  to  the 
sixth  century.  The  large  pict- 
ure in  the  tympanon  above  the 
middle  entrance  to  the  narthex, 
showing  a  sovereign  in  adora- 
tion before  Christ,  was  at  first 
supposed,  from  its  similarity  to 
the  mosaic  in  Ravenna  inscribed 
with  the  name  of  Justinian,  to 
be  the  portrait  of  that  ruler, 
but  it  has  since  been  proved  to 
represent  an  emperor  of  a  much 
later  epoch,  either  Heraclius  Fig.  52.-St.  Agnes.  Mosaic  in  the  Apse  of 

/  A    T->    z         £      \  -D      -1-         4.U  the  Church  of  S.  Agnese. 

(A.  D.  610-640)  or  Basihus  the 

Macedonian     (A.  D.    867-886). 

The  artistic  monuments  of  the  Byzantine  Empire  have  not  as  yet 

been  adequately  investigated,  and  it  is  scarcely  to  be  hoped  that 

many  memorials  of  the  earliest  periods  of  development  will  there 


92  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   PAINTING. 

be  discovered,  —  the  terrible  uprisings  of  the  Iconoclasts  in  the 
eighth  century  having  destroyed  nearly  all  the  works  of  sculpture 
and  painted  decorations  preceding  their  age. 

It  has  been  asserted  that  the  devastations  of  the  Iconoclasts  led 
to  the  introduction  of  a  distinct  artistic  style  ;  this  perhaps  goes  too 
far,  still  it  is  certain  that  the  movement  exercised  a  decided  influ- 
ence upon  the  later  tendencies  of  Byzantine  painting.  The  most 
noticeable  effect  was  the  change  in  the  subjects  represented.  The 
previous  inclination  to  fill  the  churches  with  pictures  had  gone  be- 
yond the  decoration  of  the  walls,  and  led  to  the  idolatrous  worship 
of  single  figures.  These  miraculous  images  were  not  admitted  to  be 
the  work  of  man,  but  were  proclaimed  to  have  fallen  from  heaven, 
to  have  been  dug  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  or  obtained  in  some 
similar  mysterious  manner.  Others  were  said  to  be  as  old  as  the 
religion  itself,  such  as  the  picture  of  Christ  in  Edessa,  given  by  the 
Saviour  himself  to  the  messengers  of  King  Abgarus,  and  the  many 
portraits  of  the  Madonna  painted  by  the  Evangelist  Luke,  etc. 
Idolatry  of  this  kind  excited  the  ridicule  of  the  unbelieving,  the 
serious  disapprobation  of  the  Church,  and,  finally,  the  forcible  inter- 
ference of  the  temporal  powers.  In  the  year  726  the  Emperor  Leo, 
the  Isaurian,  pronounced  his  momentous  edict  against  the  worship 
of  images,  in  consequence  of  which  he  and  his  successors  upon  the 
Eastern  throne  had  many  and  bloody  encounters  with  the  fanatical 
populace,  excited  by  certain  monastic  sectaries.  This  destruction 
of  earlier  artistic  monuments,  and  interference  with  the  production 
of  the  customary  sacred  pictures,  resulted  in  a  change  in  the  tra- 
ditional manner  of  representation,  and  gave  to  all  succeeding  Byzan- 
tine art  a  somewhat  different  character.  The  objections  had  not 
been  raised  against  painting  itself,  but  against  the  portrayal  of 
Christ,  of  the  Virgin,  and  of  the  Saints ;  thus  the  attention  of  artists 
was  diverted  from  sacred  subjects  to  other  themes,  and  the  merely 
decorative  treatment  of  the  ecclesiastical  edifices  again  became  of 
importance. 

Upon  the  whole  this  was  an  advantage.  It  was  a  return  to  the 
usages  of  the  earlier  Christians,  and  to  the  conceptions  entertained 
by  Tertullian,  which  had  been  founded  upon  a  fear  of  the  very  de- 
generation combated  by  the  emperors  of  the  eighth  century.  The 


MINIATURES.  93 

decorative  style  promoted  effects  of  color  and  favored  the  introduc- 
tion of  Oriental  motives,  which  were  quite  in  character  with  the  love 
of  magnificence  and  display  common  to  the  period,  and  which  for 
the  incrusted  treatment  of  surfaces  were  far  superior  to  those  of  the 
Occident.  The  representation  of  profane  instead  of  hieratic  sub- 
jects opened  a  wide  field  for  the  exercise  of  new  ideas,  and  this 
class  of  work  found  extensive  application  in  the  rapidly  increasing 
palaces.  The  adversaries  of  the  Iconoclasts  made  many  complaints 
that  the  sacred  edifices  were  disfigured  by  the  new  style  of  painting, 
asserting,  for  instance,  that  the  plant  forms  and  birds,  which  took 
the  place  of  the  Christian  symbols  and  devotional  images  in  a 
Church  of  the  Virgin  in  one  of  the  quarters  of  Constantinople,  gave 
the  building  the  appearance  of  "a  fruit -garden  and  bird-cage." 
But  this  taunt  should  rather  be  ascribed  to  the  prejudices  of  party 
feeling  than  taken  as  a  proof  of  any  real  unsightliness.  If  the  dec- 
orative figures  which  superseded  the  pictures  of  Christ  and  the 
Virgin  had  not  in  themselves  been  pleasing  they  would  hardly  have 
continued  to  be  introduced  into  the  churches  after  the  active  inter- 
ference of  the  Iconoclasts  had  been  brought  to  an  end  by  the  de- 
cisions of  the  Council  of  Nicea,  in  the  year  787.  The  works  of  the 
Emperor  Theophilus  (A.D.  829-842)  may  serve  as  an  illustration 
of  this  retention  of  profane  subjects  in  a  later  age. 

One  branch  of  the  art,  the  painting  of  miniatures,  was  greatly 
advanced  by  the  action  of  the  Iconoclasts.  Illuminated  manuscripts 
had  been  known  from  the  earliest  times  and  were  especially  common 
in  Egypt ;  but  in  the  classic  period  they  were  comparatively  rare, 
being  employed  only  for  didactic  works,  such  as  the  writings  of 
physicians,  mathematicians,  astronomers,  and  architects.  The  libra- 
ries of  the  Diadochi  do  not  appear  to  have  contained  many  works  of 
this  kind,  and  M.  Varro's  "  Hebdomades  vel  De  Imaginibus  "  was 
certainly  an  exception.  The  word  miniature  itself  is  of  great  an- 
tiquity, its  derivation  pointing  to  a  time  when  a  simple  pen  drawing 
or  writing  was  touched  up  with  red  lead  (minium).  But  a  system- 
atic employment  of  illumination  as  a  branch  of  art  did  not  obtain 
until  Christian  times. 

We  are  acquainted  with  no  miniatures  older  than  the  epoch  of 
Constantine.  The  illustrations  of  the  Iliad  in  the  Ambrosiana  in 


94 


EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   PAINTING. 


Milan,  and  those  of  the  Vatican  Virgil,  do  not  antedate  the  fifth 
century ;  while  those  in  the  manuscript  of  Terence  in  the  Vatican, 
and  in  that  of  Nicander  in  the  National  Library  of  Paris,  although 
imitated  from  classic,  or  at  all  events  pre-Constantine  models,  are 
themselves  the  work  of  a  still  later  period.  There  are  few  examples 
of  the  illumination  of  other  than  religious  writings,  the  most  perfect 


ig-  53- — Miniature  from   the   Codex  of  Dioscorides,  now  in  the   Imperial  Library  of 

Vienna. 


and  most  classic  of  these  being  the  Codex  of  Dioscorides,  now  in 
the  Imperial  Library  of  Vienna,  which  was  executed  about  the  year 
500  for  the  Princess  Juliana  Anicia,  daughter  of  Placidia  and  Olyb- 
rius.  Throughout  this  work,  and  especially  in  the  dedicatory  illus- 
tration (Fig.  53),  there  is  evident  an  almost  antique  composition  and 
drawing,  combined  with  a  careful  and  well-studied  execution  which 


ILLUMINATED   CODICES.  95 

contrasts  most  favorably  with  the  hasty  and  incorrect  character  of 
other  representations  of  that  age.  Although  these  miniatures  must 
be  attributed  to  an  artist  of  the  Eastern  Empire,  they  are  but  little 
disfigured  by  the  defects  of  the  Byzantine  style.  The  manuscript 
contains  a  series  of  scientific  illustrations — drawings  of  plants,  snakes, 
beetles,  and  birds, — resembling  in  treatment  those  of  the  didactic 
works  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans. 

The  Christian  codices  of  the  fifth,  sixth,  and  seventh  centuries, 
although  magnificently  written  in  golden  letters  upon  purple  parch- 
ment, are  illustrated  with  miniatures  of  an  extremely  coarse  and 
incorrect  style.  This  is  the  case  with  the  fragment  of  a  Genesis  in 


'  ig-  54-  —  Jacob  and  his  Sons.     From  Genesis,  now  in  the  Imperial  Library  of  Vienna. 


the  Greek  language,  now  in  the  Imperial  Library  of  Vienna,  in 
which  the  scenes  are  depicted  with  a  certain  dramatic  life  and  in- 
tensity, but  are  marred  by  careless  execution  and  neglect  of  all  the 
laws  of  composition  :  the  designer  contenting  himself  with  repre- 
senting his  subject  in  the  most  crude  and  prosaic  form  by  which  his 
idea  could  be  conveyed  (Fig.  54).  In  all  these  miniatures  but  little 
distinction  can  be  made  between  the  work  of  Greek  and  of  Roman 
schools,  the  art  of  illumination  differing  in  this  respect  from  that  of 
monumental  painting.  The  leaves  of  a  Latin  Bible,  dating  to  the 
sixth  century,  now  in  the  Royal  Library  of  Berlin,  are  decidedly 
superior  in  design  and  execution  ;  but  this  may  in  some  measure  be 


96  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND    BYZANTINE   PAINTING. 

explained  by  the  greater  individual  ability  of  the  artist.  This  is 
also  the  case  with  a  Book  of  Joshua,  of  the  same  age,  in  the  Library 
of  the  Vatican,  in  which  the  close  imitation  of  an  earlier  original 
and  the  excellence  of  the  work  are  due  rather  to  an  especially 
devoted  and  careful  copyist  than  to  any  direct  influence  of  the 
Occidental  art  of  that  period.  In  general  the  illuminations  of  the 
Western  Empire  were  vastly  inferior  to  the  two  specimens  just 
mentioned ;  for  instance,  the  Latin  Bible  from  the  Cloister  of  Mont- 
amiata,  in  the  Laurentiana  of  Florence,  is  far  more  rude  and  inartist- 
ic, although  of  about  the  same  date.  It  is  natural  that  the  minia- 
tures should  be  the  more  naive  and  unskilful  the  more  remote  the 
district  in  which  they  originated ;  indeed  it  is  surprising  that,  even 
in  such  provincial  works,  traces  of  classic  principles  of  design  are 
still  recognizable.  These  characteristics  appear  in  a  Syrian  Gospel, 
in  the  Laurentiana  of  Florence,  written  in  the  year  586,  by  a  priest 
named  Rabula,  at  Zagba,  in  Mesopotamia,  which  is  remarkable  for 
a  picture  of  the  Crucifixion,  one  of  the  earliest  known  representa- 
tions of  this  subject  (Fig.  55). 

The  action  of  the  Iconoclasts  was  as  destructive  to  the  minia- 
tures and  illuminated  manuscripts  of  the  preceding  ages  of  the 
Eastern  Empire  as  it  was  to  its  monumental  paintings.  Not  only 
single  copies,  but  entire  collections  of  illustrated  books  were  de- 
stroyed, the  Library  of  Constantinople  being  burned  in  the  year 
730.  But  the  restrictions  placed  upon  painting  by  the  Council  of 
A.D.  787  were  not  extended  to  miniatures  and  illuminations,  and 
the  greater  freedom  permitted  in  the  choice  of  subjects  was  favor- 
able to  the  development  of  these  minor  branches  of  art.  The 
Byzantine  Court,  especially  during  the  sway  of  the  Macedonian 
dynasty,  did  much  to  promote  scientific  culture,  whereby  the  pro- 
duction of  illustrated  manuscripts  was  increased.  Still,  it  is  not 
possible  to  recognize  any  important  advance  in  illuminations  during 
the  last  half  of  the  ninth  and  the  first  half  of  the  tenth  centuries, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  several  important  examples  of  the 
art  date  to  this  period.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned  the  Codex 
of  Gregory  of  Nazianzos,  now  in  the  National  Library  of  Paris, 
written  between  the  years  867  and  886,  and  adorned  with  minia- 
tures representing  a  great  variety  of  subjects;  also  the  Topogra- 


ILLUMINATIONS   OF   THE   TENTH   CENTURY. 


97 


phy  of  Cosmos,  in  the  Vatican,  a  work  directly  imitated  from  older 
models,  and  displaying  an  antique  perfection  of  form  very  remark- 
able in  this  age.  And,  finally,  a  Psalter  of  the  beginning  of  the 


Fig.  55. — Miniature  from  the  Syrian  Gospel  of  Zagba,  now  in  the  Laurentiana  in  Florence. 

tenth  century,  and  a  Gospel  of  not  much  later  date,  both  in  the 
National  Library  of  Paris,  which  are  distinguished  by  a  free  treat- 
ment, combined  with  antique  conceptions  and  methods  of  design. 
Compared  with  these  earlier  works,  a  great  decline  of  the  art  is 

7 


98 


EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   PAINTING. 


evident  in  manuscripts  dating  to  the  end  of  the  tenth  century,  even 
in  those  executed  by  order  of  the  emperors.  In  the  before -men- 
tioned Psalter  the  design  of  the  illustrations  has  an  almost  antique 
beauty,  very  similar  to  the  wall-paintings  of  Pompeii;  but  before 
the  termination  of  the  eleventh  century  the  figures  represented  are 

little  better  than  puppets. 
All  attempt  to  convey  an 
idea  of  the  proportions  and 
forms  of  the  human  body 
is  given  up,  the  images  are 
ranged  side  by  side  with- 
out mutual  relations,  and, 
as  had  been  the  case  two 
thousand  years  before  in 
Assyria,  all  the  character- 
istics of  drapery  were  ig- 
nored in  the  treatment  of 
the  robes:  the  sack -like 
surfaces  being  filled  in  with 
flat  patterns  of  damask  and 
embroidery.  The  composi- 
tion is  entirely  wanting  in 
the  higher  qualities  of  ar- 
tistic conception ;  the  forms 
are  stiff  and  mechanical, 
and  the  only  tolerable  feat- 
ures of  the  work  are  to  be 
found  in  its  mechanical  ex- 
ecution,—  the  choice  and 


XU/TUJ 
OUJ  ,1-HO'G 
BACIACV 
OVIOC7M 


Fig.  5°- — The  Emperor  Manuel  Palaeologus,  with 
the  Imperial  Prince  and  Princess.  Miniature 
from  a  Byzantine  Codex  now  in  the  Louvre. 


employment  of  colors   be- 
ing  good,  and  the  details 
being  rendered  with  much  neatness  and  accuracy  (Fig.  56). 

A  similar  decadence  is  also  evident  in  monumental  painting,  and 
especially  in  mosaic  work,  which  soon  lost  the  impetus  given  to  it 
by  the  ascension  to  the  throne  of  Basilius  I.  the  Macedonian,  in  the 
year  867.  Few  of  the  specimens  now  preserved  can  be  accurately 
dated ;  but  historical  accounts  indicate  an  extensive  production, 


MODELS   OF   MOUNT   ATHOS.  99 

and,  in  some  measure,  an  original  style  to  have  been  maintained 
towards  the  close  of  the  ninth  century.  This  was  particularly  the 
case  with  the  representation  of  profane  subjects,  the  walls  of  the 
palaces  being  covered  with  historical  scenes  alternating  with  floral 
decorations.  The  Church  itself  interfered  with  the  further  devel- 
opment of  religious  art :  the  second  Council  of  Nicea  issuing  the  de- 
cree that  the  design  of  sacred  subjects  should  not  be  left  to  the 
invention  of  the  artist,  who  was  required  to  imitate  certain  fixed 
models  (probata  legislatio),  and  strictly  to  follow  the  ecclesiastical 
traditions.  This  put  an  end  to  all  original  creation,  and  restricted 
sacred  painting  to  a  schematic  repetition  of  given  recipes,  reducing 
religious  art  to  a  mere  trade.  The  use  of  books  of  models,  and 
practical  apprenticeship,  took  the  place  of  talent  and  individuality, 
all  artistic  independence  being  not  only  unnecessary  but  absolutely 
forbidden.  The  works  of  Dionysios  of  Fourna-Agrapha  and  of 
Kyrillos  of  Chios,  dating  to  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries, 
known  as  the  models  of  Mount  Athos,  served  as  the  standard  for 
five  hundred  years,  and  gave  not  only  the  necessary  technical  in- 
struction in  painting,  but  also  the  tenets  of  composition  and  types 
of  all  the  canonical  ideas, — to  deviate  from  which  was  heresy. 

It  would  be  wrong,  however,  to  characterize  this  action  of  the 
Church  as  the  sole,  or  even  as  the  chief  factor  in  the  debasement 
of  Byzantine  art.  The  degeneration  was  intimately  connected  with 
the  continual  decline  of  all  Byzantine  culture,  which,  after  a  su- 
perficial contact  with  the  civilization  of  the  farther  East,  was  inca- 
pable of  assimilating  new  and  vital  elements.  The  Eastern  Empire 
could  not  be  regenerated.  The  last  traces  of  antique  art  were  lost 
in  soulless  imitation  of  imitations ;  artistic  work  became  from  age 
to  age  more  mechanical  and  more  unreal,  losing  all  appreciation 
and  even  pretence  of  beauty,  which  quality,  in  as  far  as  the  human 
body  was  concerned,  was  held  by  the  ascetic  tenets  of  the  Christian 
Church  not  only  in  disesteem  but  in  positive  condemnation.  The 
love  of  magnificent  and  careful  execution,  and  of  harmonious  and 
decorative  effects,  was  the  last  of  good  attributes  to  retain  its  hold, 
appearing,  even  to-day,  in  the  work  of  those  people  living  to  the 
north  and  east  of  the  Black  Sea  whose  art  has  developed  upon  the 
Byzantine  basis. 


IOO 


EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   PAINTING. 


The  ecclesiastical  canonization  and  determination  of  the  types 
admitted  to  be  orthodox,  and  especially  the  maintenance  of  a  didac- 
tic and  moral  character,  so  influential  among  races  in  many  respects 
little  better  than  half  civilized,  worked  together  to  extend  the  exer- 
cise of  the  art  of  painting,  which,  during  the   troublous  times  of 
the  Icbnoclasts,  had  been  almost  entirely  restricted  to  miniatures. 
Thus  it.  came  to  pass  that,  in  the  lands  subject  to  the  Greek  Church, 
no  surface  of  a  wall  or  vault,  indeed  scarcely  a 
pier   or   column,  was  without   pictorial    decora- 
tion, no  hovel  was  without   its   ikonostasis,  the 
breast  of  no  peasant  without  its  painted  amu- 
let.    The  workman-like  training  resulting  from 
this    excessive    production    had    a   direct    effect 
upon  other  branches  of  artistic  industry.     Much 
attention  was   paid  to  textile  art,  liturgic  and 
courtly  garments  as  well  as  robes  of  honor  being 
embroidered  with  designs  similar  in  motive   to 
those   of   the  Orient.     Examples   of   these   are 
the  dress  of  the  Empress  Theodora   upon   the 
mosaic  of  S.  Vitale  (Fig.  51),  and  the  imperial 
dalmatica,  which   is  said  to  have  been   used  at 
the   coronation   of    Charlemagne    in   Rome,  but 
which   is  more   probably  a  Greek  work   of  the 
eleventh  century.     Cloisonne  enamel  was  great- 
ly in  favor  because  of  its  durability  and  brilliant 
effect.     This  manner  of  treatment  was  not   in- 

amel  from  the  Bind- 
ing of  a  Codex  now     troduced  until  considerably  later  than  the  time 

in  the  Library  of  S.     of  Justinian,  when  it  was  employed  for  the  dec- 
Marco,  Venice.  oration  of  ecclesiastical  metal  work,  such  as  cru- 
cifixes, reliquaries,  the  covers   of   sacred   books, 
chalices,  etc.,  and  also  for  objects  of  princely  luxury.     In  point  of 
execution,  enamels  of  this  kind  were  related  both  to  the  work  of 
goldsmiths  in  relief  and  to  miniature  painting  (Fig.  57).     Threads 
of  gold  filigree  were  soldered   upon   plates   of  gold   or  gilt,  these 
forming  the  visible  borders  of  the  local  colors,  which  were  cast  as 
a  flux  into  the  spaces  between  them.     The  effect  thus  produced  is 
that  of  a  miniature  mosaic  or  incrustation.     The  largest  and  most 


RESTRICTIONS   OF   SCULPTURE.  IOI 

important  specimen  of  cloisonn6  enamel  is  the  Pala  d'oro,  on  the 
high  altar  of  the  Church  of  St.  Mark  in  Venice.  This  work,  repre- 
senting a  great  number  of  figures,  is  assumed,  with  much  probabil- 
ity to  have  been  executed  in  Constantinople,  A.D.  976,  as  an  ante- 
pendium.  A  similar  combination  of  painting  and  jewellery  appears 
in  the  revetment  of  pictures,  especially  those  of  the  Virgin,  with  gar- 
ments, backgrounds,  halos,  etc.,  of  beaten  metal,  or  of  enamels  and 
precious  stones  set  in  gold  and  silver.  This  barbarous  decoration 
did  not,  however,  become  common  until  a  comparatively  late  period. 

The  development  of  sculpture  among  the  early  Christians  and 
Byzantines  was  analagous  to  that  of  painting.  The  position  of  the 
former  art  was  in  so  far  the  more  favorable  as  it  could  not  well  be 
executed  with  the  hasty  carelessness  possible  in  the  frescos,  and  as 
it  could  not  become  a  merely  mechanical  trade,  like  mosaic  work. 
But  sculpture,  from  the  very  beginning  of  the  period  now  under 
consideration,  was  comparatively  neglected,  and  in  the  course  of 
succeeding  centuries  was  more  and  more  rarely  employed  for  im- 
portant works.  It  was  far  less  adapted  to  the  genius  of  Christian- 
ity than  was  painting.  Those  fathers  of  the  Church  who  inveighed 
against  the  fine  arts  objected  most  of  all  to  sculpture,  fearing  the 
danger  of  paganism  to  Christian  communities  rather  from  the  idol- 
atrous adoption  of  carved  images  of  the  ancient  gods  than  from 
any  works  of  painting,  which  latter  art  was  in  classic  times  but  sel- 
dom employed  for  the  representation  of  sacred  subjects.  More- 
over, the  Mosaic  law  had  particularly  condemned  sculpture,  and 
the  prejudices  of  the  Jewish  converts  naturally  exercised  a  decisive 
influence  upon  the  attitude  of  the  primitive  Church  in  such  mat- 
ters. Thus  from  the  outset  sculpture  was  almost  restricted  to  pro- 
fane work,  being  but  rarely  extended  to  tombs,  sarcophagi,  etc., 
and  to  liturgic  utensils,  in  which  application  the  art  was  degraded 
to  mere  decoration.  For  representations  of  the  Godhead  sculpture 
was  deemed  entirely  unfit. 

The  employment  of  sculpture  for  profane  subjects  was  contin- 
ued, and  even  increased,  after  Constantine  had  established  Chris- 
tianity as  the  official  religion  of  the  State.  The  portrait  statues 
of  that  emperor  display  the  debased  style  which  has  been  described 


102  EARLY   CHRISTIAN    AND   BYZANTINE   SCULPTURE. 

in  treating  of  the  Triumphal  Arch  of  Constantine  in  Rome.*  Still 
it  is  evident  that  the  traditions  of  good  workmanship  inherited 
from  classic  times  were  longer  retained  in  sculpture  than  in  paint- 
ing, and  particularly  in  mosaic  work.  The  conventional  attitudes 
and  gestures  which  had  been  established  by  the  typical  portrait 
statues  of  the  imperial  age  of  Rome  did  much  to  maintain  this 
fixity  of  style,  as  they  took  in  great  measure  the  place  of  artistic 
invention  and  direct  study  of  nature,  which  was  entirely  lacking 
in  these  latter  centuries.  On  the  other  hand,  the  exhibition  of 
statues  of  this  kind  in  public  places  tended  greatly  to  increase  the 
production.  At  the  time  of  Ammianus  Marcellinus  the  upper 
classes  took  extreme  satisfaction  in  having  themselves  immortal- 
ized by  images  of  gilded  bronze,  and  it  was  the  summit  of  ambition 
to  be  honored  by  an  emperor  or  by  a  municipality  with  such  a 
portrait  statue.  The  excavations  in  the  Forum  Romanum  and  in 
the  Forum  of  Trajan  in  Rome  have  brought  to  light  a  great  num- 
ber of  pedestals,  the  inscriptions  upon  which  refer  to  celebrated 
men  of  this  late  period. 

The  portrait  statues  of  the  emperors  were  especially  numerous 
among  these  works.  The  most  notable  specimen  preserved  until 
the  present  day,  and  at  the  same  time  one  of  the  largest  of  ancient 
sculptures  known,  is  the  bronze  statue  of  Theodosius  (?)  in  Barletta. 
A  great  number  of  similar  images,  known  from  accounts  of  con- 
temporary writers,  have  been  destroyed  for  the  value  of  their  metal. 
Some  of  the  most  important  among  these  were  elevated  upon  mon- 
umental columns,  like  those  of  Trajan,  Antoninus  Pius,  and  Marcus 
Aurelius  in  Rome ;  this  variety  became  particularly  common  in 
Byzantium  after  the  erection  of  a  column  of  porphyry  eighty  feet 
high  by  the  Emperor  Constantine.  The  silver  portrait  statues  of 
Arcadius  and  Honorius  were  followed,  in  the  year  543,  by  the 
equestrian  statue  of  Justinian,  near  the  Church  of  St.  Sophia,  in 
Constantinople,  which  important  work  was  unfortunately  melted 
down  in  the  sixteenth  century,  with  the  bronze  column  upon  which 
it  stood.  It  is  fully  described  by  Byzantine  authors,  who  speak  of  it 
as  the  work  of  a  certain  Eustathius, — the  last  Greek  sculptor  whose 

*  "  History  of  Ancient  Art,"  by  Dr.  Franz  von  Reber.     Am.  Ed.     p.  463. 


PORTRAIT   STATUES.  IO3 

name  is  known  to  history.  The  column,  reveted  with  bronze,  was 
one  hundred  and  five  feet  high.  Upon  the  projecting  abacus  of  its 
capital  stood  the  colossal  horse,  which,  together  with  the  imperial 
rider,  was  about  6  m.  high.  From  the  accounts  given  the  figures 
appear  to  have  resembled  in  design  the  Capitoline  equestrian  statue 
of  Marcus  Aurelius.  This  combination  of  an  equestrian  statue 
with  a  column  is  contrary  to  aesthetic  principles,  and  the  same  ob- 
jection may  be  urged  with  equal  force  against  the  portrait  statues 
of  women  elevated  upon  tall  supports,  such,  for  instance,  as  that  of 
the  Empress  Theodora,  wife  of  Justinian.  The  custom  of  erecting 
imperial  images  of  this  kind  continued  for  two  centuries  after  the  age 
of  Justinian,  the  later  works  being  also  known  by  descriptions  and, 
in  rare  instances, — such  as  the  statue  of  Phokas,  dating  to  the  year 
608, — by  fragmentary  remains.  The  imperial  portraits  last  men- 
tioned in  literature  are  those  of  Constantine  VI.,  who  died  A.D.  787. 
In  works  of  sculpture  such  as  these  Christian  art  had  no  part : 
the  religious  character  was  recognizable  only  by  the  subject  repre- 
sented, not  in  any  way  by  the  artistic  treatment.  The  images  of 
Christ,  of  St.  Peter,  and  of  St.  Hippolytus,  whether  known  by  de- 
scriptions or  by  the  statues  themselves,  were  neither  iconic  nor 
indeed  in  any  way  peculiarly  Christian,  but  belonged  to  general 
classes  universal  in  antiquity,  namely,  when  standing,  to  the  ideal 
statues  of  philosophers  and  poets,  and  when  sitting,  to  those  of 
rhetoricians.  There  is  no  good  reason  to  doubt  the  existence  of 
that  image  of  Christ  which,  as  Eusebius  of  Caesarea  tells  us,  was 
dedicated  at  Paneas,  or  at  Csesarea  Philippi,  in  Palestine,  by  the 
woman  who  was  healed  of  an  issue  of  blood,  which  statue  is  said 
to  have  been  thrown  down  by  the  Emperor  Julian  the  apostate, 
and  carried  off  by  the  Christians  to  a  church.  But  the  portrait- 
like  resemblance  of  such  a  figure  is  more  than  questionable ;  it 
could  at  best  have  been  made  only  according  to  a  verbal  descrip- 
tion ;  such  a  work  had  at  first  no  devotional  significance,  and  should 
be  classed  with  the  honorary  statues  of  celebrated  men.  The  same 
was  the  case  with  the  statue  or  bust  of  Christ  which,  according  to 
Lampridius,  the  Emperor  Alexander  Severus  (A.D.  222-235)  placed 
in  his  Lararium,  next  to  the  figures  of  Apollonius  of  Tyana,  Or- 
pheus, and  Abraham ;  and  also  with  the  bronze  statue  of  the 


104  EARLY  CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   SCULPTURE. 

Saviour  which  the  Emperor  Constantine  erected  in  the  Chalke 
at  Byzantium.  The  nature  of  the  place  in  which  the  last  work  was 
exhibited  leaves  no  doubt  that  it  was  entirely  destitute  of  any  eccle- 
siastical character.  The  negative  result  of  the  investigations  made 

in  this  matter  by  the  sister  of 
Constantine,  may  be  taken  as 
a  further  proof  that  no  iconic 
representations  of  Christ  were 
then  in  existence,  although  the 
traditional  type, — of  which  the 
oldest  known  example  is  the 
mosaic  above  the  Triumphal 
Arch  of  the  Church  of  S.  Paolo 
fuori  le  mura,  —  may  possibly 
have  been  founded  upon  the 
traditions  of  eye-witnesses. 

In  this  respect  little  impor- 
tance can  be  attached  to  the 
superstitious  tales  concerning 
the  miraculous  image  of  Christ 
in  Edessa,  and  none  whatever 
to  the  works  attributed  to  the 
skill  of  St.  Luke  as  a  portrait- 
painter,  or  to  the  legend  of  the 
impression  of  the  face  of  the 
Saviour  upon  the  handkerchief 
of  St.  Veronica,  which  is  proved 
to  have  originated  in  the  Occi- 
Fig.  58.— Statue  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  in  dent  as  late  as  the  fourteenth 
the  Museum  of  the  Lateran.  century.  In  fact  the  opinion 

was  unsettled  during  the  ear- 
liest ages  of  the  Church  whether  the  appearance  of  Christ  had 
been  ugly  or  beautiful :  the  tradition  of  the  second  and  third  cen- 
turies being  inclined  to  the  former,  while  that  of  the  fourth  cen- 
tury favored  the  latter  assumption.*  The  learned  St.  Augustine 


*  The  tradition  of  the  uncomeliness  of  Christ  (Justin.  Dial,  cum  Tryph.',  85,  88,  100) 


PORTRAITS   OF   CHRIST. 


105 


says  distinctly  that  it  was   not  at  all  known  (penitus  ignoramus) 
how  Christ  looked.      For  these  reasons  it  was  found  desirable  to 


F'g-  59-— Statue  of  St.  Peter  in  the  Church  of  S.  Pietro,  Rome. 

substitute  symbols  in  place  of  iconic  representations  of  the  Sav- 
iour. One  of  the  most  popular  of  these  was  the  figure  of  the 

sprang  from  a  desire  to  see  realized  in  him  a  trait  of  the  Messianic  prophecy  (Isa.  liii.  3, 
etc.).  It  does  not  appear  before  the  attempts  to  demonstrate  this  identification,  and,  after 
the  legend  was  firmly  established,  was  naturally  relinquished  as  distasteful  to  the  Church 
militant. 


106  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE    SCULPTURE. 

Good  Shepherd  (Fig.  58),  which   frequently  appears    in   the   cata- 
combs, and  continued  in  vogue  until  the  age  of  Constantine. 

The  physical  characteristics  of  some  of  the  saints,  especially  of 
those  who  lived  in  Rome,  must  have  been  better  known,  and  repre- 
sentations of  them  may  have  approached  more  nearly  to  truth  of 
portraiture.  There  exist,  however,  only  two  sculptures  of  saints 
which  can  be  ascribed  to  an  early  period,  namely,  the  marble 
statue  of  St.  Hippolytus,  dating  to  about  the  year  235,  found  in  the 
catacombs  of  S.  Lorenzo  and  now  in  the  Museum  of  the  Lateran, 
the  upper  half  of  which,  with  the  head,  is  a  modern  restoration, — 
and  the  bronze  statue  of  St.  Peter  in  his  church  at  Rome,  which, 


Fig.  60.— Odysseus  and  the  Sirens.     Fragment  of  an  Early  Christian  Relief. 

from  an  inscription  formerly  upon  the  base,  appears  to  be  a  Byzan- 
tine work  of  the  fifth  century  (Fig.  59).  In  attitude  and  drapery 
the  first  of  these  does  not  differ  materially  from  the  profane  works 
of  the  third  century ;  but  the  bronze  statue  of  St.  Peter  has,  at  least 
in  a  slight  degree,  the  character  of  a  portrait,  some  resemblance  to 
the  individual  doubtless  having  been  maintained,  through  the  cen- 
turies previous  to  the  execution  of  this  work,  by  small  bronze  me- 
dallions of  the  apostles,  and  by  miniatures  of  a  golden  bust  painted 
upon  a  blue  ground  between  two  layers  of  glass. 

The  sculpture  of  reliefs  was  much  more  common  in  early  Chris- 
tian times  than  that  of  statues.  Decorations  of  this  kind  upon 
sarcophagi  followed,  at  least  in  regard  to  subject,  the  development 


RELIEFS   UPON   SARCOPHAGI. 


107 


of  painting  as  it  appears  in  the  catacombs,  while  they  are  distinctly 
superior  in  artistic  respects.  In  the  reliefs,  also,  classical  reminis- 
cences are  not  wanting :  scenes  from  the  athletic  games  of  the  an- 
cient circus,  as  upon  the  sarcophagus  of  Leucis  in  Terni,  or  Odysseus 
and  the  Sirens  (Fig.  60),  figuring  as  allegories  of  temptation.  Among 
the  few  of  these  works  which  can  be  dated  the  most  important  in 
many  ways  are  the  sarcophagi  of  Helena  and  Constantia,  of  the 
time  of  Constantine,  which  have  been  removed  from  the  mortuary 
chapels  bearing  their  names  to  the  Museum  of  the  Vatican.  The 
sculptures  in  high -relief  upon  these  gigantic  coffers  of  porphyry 
have  but  few  Christian  characteristics,  the  subjects  represented 
upon  that  of  Helena  being  warlike  scenes,  and  upon  that  of  Con- 
stantia genii  gathering  grapes  among  a  foliage  of  acanthus  leaves. 


Fig.  61. — Relief  carved  upon  a  Sarcophagus  in  the  Museum  of  the  Lateran. 

Themes  more  peculiarly  Christian  are  introduced  upon  two  sarcoph- 
agi of  about  the  same  period:  that  of  Junius  Bassus  (f  359),  in 
the  Crypt  of  the  Vatican,  and  that  of  Anicius  Probus  (f  395),  in 
the  Pieta  Chapel  of  St.  Peter's.  The  subjects  represented  upon  the 
first  of  these  are  chiefly  chosen  from  the  New  Testament,  while 
upon  the  second  Christ  and  the  Apostles  take  the  place  of  Apollo 
Musagetes  and  the  Muses,  previously  so  common.  A  great  num- 
ber of  marble  sarcophagi,  ornamented  with  symbolic  representations 
and  scenes  from  the  Old  Testament,  which  have  now  been  collected 
in  the  Museum  of  the  Lateran,  appear  to  be  of  a  somewhat  earlier 
date;  notable  among  them  is  the  coffer  of  Junia  Julia  (Fig.  61). 
The  unskilled  and  careless  execution  of  the  sculptures  upon  it  be- 
trays the  hand  of  an  artisan  rather  than  an  artist,  but  the  themes 
illustrated  are  so  closely  related  to  those  of  the  paintings  in  the 


108  EARLY  CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   SCULPTURE. 

catacombs,  both  as  regards  choice  of  subject  and  general  concep- 
tion, that  the  work  cannot  be  ascribed  to  a  later  period  than  the 
age  of  Constantine.  Similar  to  it,  at  least  in  the  treatment  of  the 
figures  as  youthful  genii,  is  the  fragment  discovered  by  J.  B.  de  Rossi 
in  Spoleto:  a  vessel  steered  by  Christ  and  rowed  by  the  Evangelists, 
John,  Mark,  and  Luke,  all  the  figures  being  designated  by  inscrip- 
tions. A  sarcophagus  in  the  church  of  the  Franciscans  at  Spalatro, 
which  cannot  be  of  a  much  more  recent  date,  is  of  quite  a  different 
style,  the  passage  of  the  Red  Sea  by  the  Israelites  and  the  destruc- 
tion of  Pharaoh  and  his  army  being  represented  in  a  manner  which 
distinctly  shows  the  influence  of  the  spiral  reliefs  upon  the  columns 
of  Trajan  and  Marcus  Aurelius  (Fig.  62).  Some  sarcophagi  in 
the  Museum  of  the  Lateran,  dating  from  the  fourth  or,  at  the  latest, 


Fig.  62. — The  Passage  of  the  Red  Sea.     Relief  upon  a  Sarcophagus  in  Spalatro. 

from  the  fifth  century,  are  carved  with  subjects  from  both  the  Old 
and  the  New  Testaments,  the  figures  being  placed  together  without 
plan  or  division,  and  in  a  very  different  arrangement  from  those 
upon  the  sarcophagus  of  Bassus,  where  the  various  scenes  are  di- 
vided and  framed  in  with  columns,  entablatures,  niches,  and  pedi- 
ments. Still  there  is  no  lack  of  symmetry  and  artistic  disposition 
of  the  figures  in  the  former  compositions,  and,  closely  as  they  are 
crowded  together,  their  significance  is  yet  perfectly  plain.  In  gen- 
eral the  treatment  in  relief  is  a  further  debasement  of  the  imperfect 
Roman  style ;  although  the  modelling  is  quite  flat,  the  bodies  are 
conceived  as  if  they  were  statues  in  the  round,  and  are  more  com- 
monly shown  in  full  face  than  in  profile. 

Among  the  early  Christian  sarcophagi  in  the  Museum  of  the 
Lateran  many  are  entirely  plain ;  others  are  decorated  with  simple 


RELIEFS   UPON   SARCOPHAGI. 


109 


ornaments  of  straight  lines, — carved  with  single  figures  at  the  cor- 
ners,— or  with  the  double  breast-pieces  of  husband  and  wife -upon 
a  circular  and  ribbed  background.  Numerous  sarcophagi  are  found 
in  the  crypt  of  St.  Peter's  and  in  other  churches  and  collections  of 
Rome.  Early  Christian  coffers  of  carved  marble  are  also  met  with 
in  Ravenna,  Milan,  Naples,  Ancona,  Spoleto,  Aries,  Lyons,  Mar- 
seilles, Aix,  Rheims,  Saragossa,  and  in  various  places  of  Northern 
Africa  and  the  Byzantine  Empire.  Occasionally  coffers  of  lead 
were  used  instead  of  chests  of  stone,  these  being  usually  without 
reliefs,  or  occasionally  with  simple  decorations  like  those  upon  two 
specimens  in  the  Museum  of  Angers,  the  age  of  which  is  uncertain. 


Fig.  63. — Coffin  of  Lead,  found  at  Saida,  Phoenicia  ;  now  in  Cannes. 


Two  richly  ornamented  coffins  of  lead  (Fig.  63),  discovered  by  Baron 
Lyklarna  in  Saida  in  Phoenicia,  now  in  Cannes,  are  hence  the  more 
important.  In  the  opinion  of  G.  B.  de  Rossi  these  works  are  to  be 
ascribed  rather  to  the  time  before  Constantine  than  to  a  later  date. 
They  are  particularly  remarkable  because  of  the  occurrence  of  the 
monogram  of  Christ  with  the  symbolic  IX@TS,  and  have  upon 
either  side  a  fine  frieze  of  grapes  and  vines,  chalices  and  doves,  the 
cast  forms  of  which  still  preserve  reminiscences  of  the  early  Phoeni- 
cian style,  determined  by  beaten  metal  work.  Some  parts  of  the 
design,  especially  the  figures  resembling  yEsculapius,  upon  the  ends 
of  the  coffers,  might  well  have  been  taken  for  antique.  The  em- 


I  10  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   SCULPTURE. 

ployment  of  carved  sarcophagi  was  discontinued  in  the  sixth  cen- 
tury, after  the  ornamentation  of  figures  in  relief  had  been  displaced 
by  simple  symbols,  such  as  those  upon  the  coffers  in  the  Mortuary 
Chapel  of  Galla  Placidia,  dating  to  the  fifth  century. 

Among  the  minor  branches  of  art,  carvings  in  ivory  retained  a 
place  in  popular  favor  for  a  longer  period.  The  most  important 
specimens  of  this  work  were  the  diptychs,  or  double  writing  tablets, 
ornamented  upon  the  outer  side  with  reliefs,  and  covered  upon  the 
inner  surfaces  with  a  thin  coating  of  wax,  upon  which  memoranda 
were  scratched  with  a  stylus.  Such  tablets  were  much  in  vogue 
among  the  upper  classes  during  the  imperial  epoch,  as  objects  of 
luxury  and  as  New-year's  gifts.  In  the  year  384  it  was  determined 
by  law  that  the  privilege  of  using  these  diptychs  should  be  re- 
stricted to  the  consuls,  who  were  permitted  to  present  them  to 
their  friends  on  the  occasion  of  the  public  games  instituted  at  the 
time  of  their  accession  to  office.  The  consular  diptychs  thus  have 
the  advantage  of  being  accurately  dated,  this  making  a  considera- 
tion of  them  especially  important  to  the  history  of  the  development 
of  sculpture.  Their  artistic  value,  however,  is  usually  not  great,  and 
is,  moreover,  much  influenced  by  the  locality  of  their  execution  and 
the  individual  ability  of  the  carver.  Specimens  dating  to  the  fourth 
century  are  rare,  the  most  noteworthy  of  these  being  the  diptych 
of  Rufus  Probianus,  ascribed  to  the  year  322,  now  in  the  Royal 
Library  of  Berlin.  Those  of  the  fifth  century  are  far  more  numer- 
ous ;  among  them  are  a  single  tablet  of  Flavius  Felix,  A.  D.  428,  in 
the  National  Library  at  Paris ;  the  diptych  of  Areobindus  the  elder, 
A.  D.  434,  in  the  Ambrosiana  of  Milan  ;  that  of  Flavius  Astyrius, 
A.D.  449,  in  the  Museum  of  Darmstadt ;  and  lastly,  the  fine  diptych 
referable  to  the  first  half  of  the  fifth  century,  in  the  treasury  of  the 
cathedral  at  Monza,  which  shows  upon  one  side  the  portrait  of 
Galla  Placidia  with  her  son  Valentinian  III.,  and  upon  the  other 
that  of  Consul  Aetius.  In  all  these  works  Italian  reminiscences  of 
the  classic  Roman  methods  of  sculpture  are  still  evident.  In  the 
diptychs  of  the  sixth  century  this  style  is  entirely  exchanged  for  that 
of  Byzantium.  The  diptych  of  the  consul  Areobindus  the  younger, 
A.  D.  506,  in  the  Antiquarium  of  Zurich,  and  that  of  Anastasius, 
A.D.  515,  in  the  National  Library  of  Paris  (Fig.  64), — the  former 


IVORY   CARVINGS. 


Ill 


representing  a  combat  with  a  lion  in  an  amphitheatre,  the  latter  a 
circus  race  under  the  figure  of  the  consul, — both  show  the  stiff  and 
clumsy  forms  and  the  heavy  proportions  which,  in  combination  with 
the  Oriental  magnificence  of  the  embroidered  garments,  are  charac- 
teristic of  Byzantine  designs. 

Ivory  carvings  of  religious  sub- 
jects for  liturgic  purposes  were  sim- 
ilar in  style  to  these  profane  works. 
Chief  among  them  were  the  diptychs, 
or  tablets,  used  by  the  priests  in  read- 
ing lists  of  names,  etc.,  to  the  congre- 
gation, and  also  those  tables  of  pray- 
ers from  which  the  canonical  tablets, 
still  in  use  in  the  Catholic  Church, 
appear  to  have  been  derived.  Carv- 
ings of  ivory  were  also  used  for  the 
covers  of  books,  especially  of  missals, 
and  were  for  this  purpose  mounted  in 
gold  and  decorated  with  jewels  and 
enamels.  This  kind  of  binding  be- 
came general  when  the  change  was 
made  from  a  scroll  to  a  book  of 
leaves,  the  latter  having  evidently 
been  considered  at  first  as  a  combi- 
nation of  the  manuscript  and  the  dip- 
tych. To  this  category  belong  the 
carved  panel  of  ivory  in  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Salerno,  with  the  story  of 
Ananias  and  Sapphira,  and  the  four 
tablets  in  the  British  Museum,  upon 
which,  among  other  scenes  of  the  Pas- 
sion, the  Crucifixion  is  represented. 
As  the  style  of  the  latter  sculpture 
does  not  appear  to  be  later  than  the 

fifth  century,  it  is  without  doubt  the  earliest  appearance  of  this 
subject.  Similar  works  of  about  the  same  date  are  preserved  in 
the  cathedrals  of  Milan  and  Como,  the  Church  of  S.  Michele  in 


Fig.  64.  —  Diptych  of  the  Consul 
Anastasius,  A.D.  515,  in  the  Na- 
tional Library,  Paris. 


112  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   SCULPTURE. 

Murano,  the  National  Library  in  Paris,  and  the  collections  of  Bres- 
cia and  Darmstadt. 

In  Constantinople  the  use  of  these  tablets  continued  general  for 
centuries,  and  their  decorations  were  but  little  influenced  by  the 
action  of  the  Iconoclasts.  The  antique  elements  of  design,  how- 
ever, gradually  disappeared,  and  carving  in  ivory,  following  the  de- 
basement of  the  miniatures  and  mosaics,  became  stiffer,  more  life- 
less, and  less  artistic,  while  still  maintaining  in  great  measure  the 
original  delicacy  and  exactness  of  execution.  The  tablet  in  the 
Musee  Cluny  in  Paris,  representing  the  Emperor  Otto  II.  with  the 
Princess  Theophano, — without  doubt  a  memento  of  their  marriage 
•in  the  year  972, — and  that  with  the  portraits  of  the  Emperor  Ro- 
manus  IV.  and  his  wife,  dating  from  the  year  1068,  show  the  exces- 
sively long  and  lean  forms  of  the  body,  the  heavy  brocade  draperies, 
and  the  general  hardness  and  stiffness  characteristic  of  all  Byzan- 
tine figures. 

Carvings  in  ivory  were  also  employed  from  the  earliest  period 
for  various  other  utensils,  as,  for  instance,  for  the  pyxis  or  box  in 
which  the  Host  was  kept.  The  specimen,  dating  probably  to  the 
third  century,  now  in  the  Museum  of  Berlin,  is  one  of  the  earliest 
and  most  beautiful,  the  style  of  its  decorations  being  almost  classic. 
Upon  the  cylinder  is  represented  the  Sacrifice  of  Isaac,  and  Christ 
teaching  among  the  Apostles.  A  similar  vessel,  but  dating  to  the 
sixth  century,  is  now  in  the  Musee  Cluny  in  Paris.  The  subjects 
upon  this  latter  example  are  the  well-known  miracles  of  Christ  in 
healing  the  sick  and  raising  the  dead.  In  artistic  treatment  it  is 
decidedly  inferior  to  the  earlier  work.  The  largest  ivory  carving  of 
the  early  Christian  epoch  is  the  cathedra  of  the  Bishop  Maximian, 
which  was  executed  between  the  years  546  and  552,  and  is  now  pre- 
served in  the  sacristy  of  the  Cathedral  of  Ravenna.  It.  displays 
numerous  representations  of  single  figures  and  groups,  surrounded 
by  a  framework  of  foliage  and  various  animals.  The  different  parts 
of  the  work  are  of  very  unequal  value,  the  decorations  being  de- 
cidedly better  than  the  figures. 

Mention  must  also  be  made  of  the  work  in  precious  metals 
which  at  this  period  flourished  throughout  the  East,  and  particu- 
larly in  Constantinople.  Enamelling  was  most  common,  and  those 


WORKS   OF   PRECIOUS   METAL.  113 

few  branches  of  goldsmiths'  work  which  are  to  be  considered  under 
the  head  of  sculpture  are  but  rarely  of  artistic  importance.  The 
die-cutting  of  Byzantium  had  at  all  times  been  inferior  to  that  of 
Rome.  Soon  after  the  age  of  Constantine  even  gold  coins  show 
flat  heads  in  full  face,  with  but  little  individuality;  and  after  Jus- 
tinian they  were  debased  to  most  barbarous  types.  The  artistic 


Fig.  65. — The  Two  Marys  at  the  Sepulchre.     Relief  of  Gold  in  the  Louvre. 


treatment  of  the  large  empaistic  works  in  gold  and  silver  did  not 
even  equal  the  intrinsic  value  of  the  metals  themselves.  A  relief  of 
gold,  now  in  the  Louvre,  representing  the  two  Marys  before  the 
angel  who  guards  the  sepulchre,  may  serve  as  an  example  (Fig.  65). 
The  character  of  the  Greek  inscription  makes  it  impossible  to  con- 
sider this  work  as  antedating  the  tenth  century,  hence  it  is  not 

8 


114  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   SCULPTURE. 

surprising  that  its  style  shows  no  understanding  of  the  principles 
of  modelling  in  relief,  but  is  entirely  dependent  upon  the  design 
of  late  Byzantine  paintings  and  miniatures.  The  golden  cover  of 
the  binding  of  the  Gospel  of  Charles  the  Bald,  now  in  the  Library 
of  Munich,  which  is  stated  in  an  inscription  to  have  been  attached 
to  the  codex  in  the  year  975,  by  the  Abbot  Romuald  of  St.  Em- 
meramnus  in  Ratisbon,  is  known  to  be  of  Italian  or  German  work- 
manship, but  it  is  entirely  Byzantine  in  character,  and  consequently 
an  exact  imitation  of  Eastern  models.  The  same  is  the  case  with 
the  design  of  the  most  magnificent  example  of  this  kind,  the  Ante- 
pendium  of  the  high  altar  of  S.  Ambrogio  in  Milan,  —  a  worthy 
companion-piece  to  the  Pala  d'  oro  in  Venice.  The  Master  Wol- 
vinus,  who  is  mentioned  in  an  inscription  upon  the  Antependium, 
can  hardly  have  been  a  Byzantine.  In  view  of  the  lack  of  effect  in 
all  these  works  it  appears  natural  that  a  decided  preference  should 
have  been  shown  for  enamels,  —  the  brilliant  and  richly  colored 
effects  of  which  were  so  well  suited  to  the  Byzantine  taste.  The 
desire  for  magnificence  in  the  decorations  of  palaces  and  altars  was 
readily  satisfied  with  goldsmiths'  work  of  small  artistic  value,  with 
ornaments  of  filigree,  and  with  a  gaudy  incrustation  of  jewels. 

The  true  materials  of  monumental  sculpture,  —  marble  and 
bronze, — were  but  rarely  employed  after  the  time  of  the  Iconoclasts. 
Sculpture  in  the  full  round  was  interdicted,  equally  with  painting, 
by  the  council  of  A.  D.  754,  by  which  time  other  circumstances  had 
already  led  to  an  almost  entire  neglect  of  this  branch.  Even  after 
the  council  of  A.  D.  787  had  again  countenanced  painting,  sculpture 
still  remained  under  the  ban,  as  a  peculiarly  heathenish  art.  Ex- 
cepting merely  decorative  works,  no  Byzantine  marble  carvings  are 
met  with  after  the  eighth  century.  It  is,  however,  certain  that  the 
discontinuance  of  this  art  was  not  alone  due  to  the  action  of  the 
Iconoclasts ;  for  in  the  Occident,  which  was  but  little  influenced  by 
this  movement,  the  decline  of  sculpture  is  hardly  less  observable. 
The  six  figures,  in  stucco  relief  and  larger  than  life,  of  Sts.  Chrysog- 
onus  and  Zoiles,  Anastasia,  Agape,  Chionia  and  Irene,  which  dur- 
ing the  eighth  century  wjere  placed  as  votive  offerings  in  a  chapel 
of  the  cloister  of  the  Benedictines  at  Cividale,  in  Friuli,  are  isolated 
and  exceptional  works,  appearing  in  style  as  direct  translations 


BRONZE   CASTINGS.  115 

of  Byzantine  paintings,  and  wholly  without  understanding  of  the 
peculiar  methods  of  sculpture.  These  figures  display  in  a  striking 
manner  the  total  loss  of  the  antique  traditions  of  monumental 
sculpture  at  this  period. 

Casting  in  bronze  was  entirely  discontinued,  and  even  the  cast- 
ing of  smaller  utensils  decorated  in  relief,  which  had  been  frequent 
in  the  early  Christian  epoch,  was  no  longer  practised.  As  sculpture 
in  precious  metals  had  been  superseded  by  enamel,  so  also  was 
empaistic  work  exchanged  for  a  surface  ornament  of  damaskeen 
and  niello.  The  bronze  doors  executed  in  Italy  during  the  eleventh 
century  are  examples  of  this  new  style  of  treating  metals ;  particu- 
larly worthy  of  mention  are  those  of  Amalfi,  Monte  Casino,  S. 
Paolo  fuori  le  mura  at  Rome,  S.  Angelo  on  Monte  Gargano,  Atrani, 
Salerno,  and  of  S.  Marco  at  Venice.  Similar  to  them  are  the  doors 
of  some  Russian  churches,  notably  that  of  the  Cloister  at  Susdal  and 
that  of  the  Church  of  the  Assumption  in  Moscow.  In  these  works 
modelling  in  relief  is  exceptional,  the  decoration  being  effected  by 
engraved  lines  filled  with  silver  wire  or  with  a  colored  flux,  while 
the  faces  and  naked  extremities  were  lightly  engraved  upon  thin 
plates  of  silver.  As  might  be  expected  from  the  date  of  their  ex- 
ecution, the  design  of  the  figures  is  monotonous  and  stiff,  meagre 
and  attenuated  beyond  human  semblance.  It  may  with  reason  be 
assumed  that  we  have  here  to  deal  with  technical  methods  derived 
from  the  East,  and  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  very  similar  dam- 
askeened and  engraved  metal  work  is  still  common  in  Mohammedan 
lands. 

In  reviewing  the  achievements  of  early  Christian  and  Byzantine 
painting  and  sculpture  in  their  entirety  we  are  forced  to  acknowl- 
edge their  importance,  notwithstanding  many  and  great  defects. 
The  withering  and  petrifying  degeneration  of  classic  art  was  already 
fully  declared  in  the  time  of  Constantine,  and  must  be  considered 
as  an  hereditary  ailment  of  Byzantine  Christianity.  The  traditional 
types  of  antique  art  were  necessarily  retained,  but  could  not  be 
rejuvenated  by  succeeding  generations.  The  empires  of  the  East 
and  West,  which  were  for  centuries  the  only  representatives  of 
European  civilization,  were  connected  in  too  many  ways  with  the 
culture  of  classic  times  and  of  Eastern  Asiatic  nations  to  be  able  to 


\  • 

Jl6  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   SCULPTURE. 

introduce  new  forms  in  the  place  of  those  which  had  become  de- 
based by  continual  repetition.  Thus  the  fate  of  Byzantine  art,  as 
Schnaase  has  suggested,  may  be  compared  to  that  of  Tithonos, 
beloved  by  Eos,  to  whom  the  gods,  at  her  request,  had  granted 
immortality,  but  not  eternal  youth,  and  who  was  thus  condemned 
to  drag  out  a  long  existence  of  the  most  wretched  decrepitude. 
Still  all  was  not  utterly  bad ;  even  in  the  later  ages  Byzantine 
painting  retained  some  important  merits.  A  certain  dignity  and 
magnificence  was  maintained,  and  even  increased,  being  recogniz- 
able in  all  the  mosaics  of  the  Eastern  Empire.  And  the  harmo- 
nious unity  called  style  was  also  preserved,  in  ideal  as  well  as  in 
material  respects, — that  is  to  say,  both  in  the  agreement  of  subject 
and  manner  of  representation,  and  in  the  correct  relation  of  the 
material  and  the  form.  The  methods  of  technical  execution  were 
almost  always  intelligent  and  careful,  and  from  the  combination  of 
antique  traditions  and  Oriental  influences  there  resulted  a  peculiar 
individuality  well  adapted  to  the  requirements  of  the  age  and  cult- 
ure. This  unity  of  style  was  maintained  in  details  as  well  as  in 
general  composition,  and  bears  a  striking  testimony  to  the  rational 
and  moderate  side  of  the  Byzantine  character. 

The  Byzantines  not  only  had  all  that  artistic  competence  which 
it  is  possible  to  acquire  by  special  training, — namely,  that  relating 
to  the  traditional  treatment  of  subjects  and  the  typical  forms,  as 
well  as  to  all  the  technical  branches, — but  they  transmitted  these 
acquirements  to  their  most  distant  dependencies.  As  has  been 
shown  in  the  preceding  chapter,  the  influence  of  Byzantium  in 
architectural  respects  was  extensive ;  and  Byzantine  painting  was 
so  widely  known  that  there  was  scarcely  a  Christian  country  pre- 
vious to  the  eleventh  or  twelfth  century  not  directly  or  indirectly 
influenced  thereby.  The  present  consideration  must  be  limited  to 
those  districts  most  immediately  connected  with  the  Byzantine 
Empire,  and  especially  to  Russia,  inasmuch  as  Georgia  and  Ar- 
menia, although  offering  important  developments  of  Byzantine  ar- 
chitecture, were  almost  entirely  without  noteworthy  works  of  paint- 
ing or  sculpture. 

In  Russia  there  are  few  memorials  of  ancient  sculpture, — the 
sarcophagus  of  the  Grand -duke  Jaroslaw,  in  Kief,  is  quite  excep- 


RUSSIA.  117 

tional,  and  the  bronze  doors  at  Novgorod,  Susdal,  and  Moscow  are 
either  Byzantine  works,  as  is  evident  from  their  popular  designation 
of  Korssun  (/.  e.,  Chersonese)  gates,  or  they  are  of  German  origin, 
as  is  the  case  with  those  dating  to  the  twelfth  century  in  Novgorod, 
which  were  probably  brought  from  Magdeburg. 

In  Russian  painting,  on  the  other  hand,  the  production  was 
excessive,  but  without  the  interest  which  attaches  to  Russian  ar- 
chitecture. The  Byzantine  types  were  reproduced  with  servile  ex- 
actness, being  regarded  almost  as  a  branch  of  the  liturgy ;  they  had 
developed  as  an  integral  part  of  the  ecclesiastical  ordinances,  and, 
like  the  dogmas,  had  become  immutable.  In  short,  the  canons  of 
pictorial  art  in  the  Eastern  Church  were  as  unchangeable  as  the 
texts  of  the  sacred  books.  Thus  it  came  about  that  religious 
miniatures,  as  well  as  the  monumental  paintings,  which  appeared 
upon  all  parts  of  the  interior  of  the  church,  and  especially  upon  the 
wall  behind  the  altar  (Ikonostasis),  have  maintained  even  to-day  the 
original  characteristics  in  such  a  degree  that  the  most  recent  relig- 
ious pictures  are  at  times  to  be  distinguished  from  those  of  the 
thirteenth  century  only  by  experts,  while  the  Russian  or  Byzantine 
origin  is  often  only  to  be  determined  by  the  language  of  the  in- 
scriptions. As  in  the  Greek  Empire,  the  types  are  senile  and  ugly, 
lean  and  attenuated ;  the  flesh-tints  are  brownish  and  dark  ;  the  mag- 
nificent garments  are  drawn  with  straight  folds,  and  are  frequently 
represented  by  sheets  of  beaten  gold  and  silver  mounted  with  jew- 
els. The  Russian  painters'  book  Podlinnik  is  closely  related  to  that 
of  Mount  Athos,  from  which  it  differs  only  in  unimportant  details. 
Its  models  for  single  images  and  for  large  compositions  are  the 
same  as  those  determined  by  the  Byzantine  Church.  The  fame  of 
Master  Andreas  Rubleff,  who  flourished  towards  the  end  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  appears  to  have  depended  mainly  upon  his 
artistic  orthodoxy.  When  Ivan  III.,  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  brought  painters,  as  well  as  architects,  from  Italy,  their 
employment  actually  occasioned  public  disturbances;  and  when  a 
new  painters'  book,  called  Stoglaff,  had  been  instituted  upon  the 
basis  of  Rubleff's  art,  an  edict,  promulgated  by  the  Grand-duke  in 
the  year  1551,  gave  to  it  the  force  of  an  absolute  law,  so  that  even 
rulers  so  favorably  inclined  to  Occidental  civilization  as  Peter  the 


Il8  EARLY   CHRISTIAN   AND   BYZANTINE   ART. 

Great  could  not  venture  the  slightest  interference  with  its  statutes. 
By  such  means  was  the  Byzantine-Korssun  style  preserved  from  the 
influence  of  the  Italian  Renaissance;  and  it  is  thus  that  in  Russia 
the  painting  of  the  Eastern  Empire  has  dragged  on  its  existence 
until  the  present  day.  An  exception  is,  however,  to  be  made  in 
favor  of  certain  academic  circles  which,  since  the  beginning  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  have  endeavored  to  follow  the  development  of 
modern  European  art.  It  remains  to  be  seen  whether  these  at- 
tempts will  succeed  in  effecting  a  compromise  which  shall  combine 
in  religious  painting  the  requirements  of  modern  civilization  with 
the  Byzantine  elements,  while  not  deviating  from  the  narrow  rules 
laid  down  by  the  ordinances  of  the  Greek  Church. 


Fig.  66. — Fa9ade  of  the  Palace  of  Khosru  at  Ctesiphon. 


ASIA. 

THE    PERSIANS   UNDER    THE   SASSANID^).     THE   INDIAN  AND 
EASTERN   ASIATIC   RACES. 

THE  great  mission  of  Mohammed  was  contemporary  with  the 
highest  development  of  the  Byzantines.  At  that  time  his 
Arabian  tribe  was  perhaps  the  most  uncivilized  of  all  those  races 
of  Asia  and  the  European  and  African  shores  of  the  Mediterranean 
which  were  destined  so  soon  to  embrace  the  faith  of  Islam.  Some 
of  these  races  still  maintained  a  culture  as  old  as  the  history  of  the 
world.  Thus  Egypt  could  trace  back  its  art  for  more  than  three 
thousand  years, — being  then  in  the  fourth  phase  of  its  development : 
the  empire  of  the  Pharaohs  had  been  followed  by  the  Hellenistic 
Ptolemies,  and,  after  Caesar,  by  a  Roman  civilization ;  before  this 
had  been  thoroughly  adopted  it  was  in  its  turn  replaced  by  early 
Christian  elements  from  both  Italian  and  Byzantine  sources.  Simi- 
lar changes,  after  even  shorter  lapses  of  time,  had  affected  the 


120  PERSIA   UNDER   THE   SASSANID^E. 

Syrian  coast.  Phoenician  art  was  even  less  able  to  hold  its  own 
against  the  Hellenistic  tendencies  of  the  Seleucidae  than  had  been 
the  Egyptian  ;  and  Palestine,  the  native  country  of  Christianity,  was 
naturally  more  readily  adapted  to  receive  Christian  culture  than  was 
the  valley  of  the  Nile.  The  case  was  the  same  in  Asia  Minor,  where 
native  art  had  at  a  very  early  period  been  exchanged  for  that  of  the 
Greeks.  After  the  incorporation  of  the  kingdom  of  Pergamon  into 
the  Roman  empire,  the  land  soon  adopted  the  early  Christian  con- 
ceptions and  types,  and  finally  became  quite  Byzantine  through  the 
influence  of  the  neighboring  capital  of  Constantine  upon  the  Bos- 
poros.  Some  tracts  of  Asia  Minor  even  attained  an  independent 
importance  in  these  last  phases  of  development,  as  we  have  seen  to 
be  the  case  with  Armenia. 

The  history  of  art  in  these  countries  during  the  ages  before  their 
adoption  of  Mohammedanism  has  been  related  in  the  "  History  of 
Ancient  Art"  and  in  the  preceding  chapters  of  the  present  book  ;  but 
the  culture  of  the  interior  of  Asia  and  the  south-eastern  parts  of 
the  great  continent  must  be  considered  anew  in  this  connection. 

The  civilization  of  Persia,  which,  under  Cyrus,  had  taken  the 
place  of  primitive  Mesopotamian  traditions,  lost  its  position  more 
readily  than  did  that  of  the  far  more  ancient  Egyptian  empire. 
Notwithstanding  the  enormous  extent  of  Persia, — from  the  Indus 
to  the  boundaries  of  Europe, — the  realm  not  only  lacked  the  sta- 
bility of  age,  but  time  and  means  for  its  consolidation.  The  three 
centuries  of  Hellenism  under  the  Seleucidae  which  followed  the 
overthrow  of  the  Persian  empire  by  Alexander,  and  the  two  hun- 
dred years  of  Parthian  misrule  and  destruction  had  almost  entirely 
obliterated  the  ancient  traditions,  when  Ardashir, — claiming  descent 
from  the  ancient  Achaemenidae, — founded  in  the  year  226  the  new 
Persian  empire  and  that  new  dynasty  called,  after  the  name  of 
Ardashir's  father  (Sassan),  the  Sassanidae.  Although  the  artistic 
conceptions  of  the  Sassanians  were  similar  in  many  ways  to  those 
of  the  Persians,  from  whom  they  claimed  to  be  directly  descended, 
they  were  too  heavily  handicapped  with  Graeco-Roman  and  barba- 
rian, and  in  later  times  even  with  Byzantine,  influences  to  be  able 
to  create  an  original  monumental  art. 

We  are  acquainted  with  no  important  architectural  remains  and 


ARCHITECTURE.  121 

with  but  few  memorials  of  sculpture  dating  from  the  period  of  the 
foundation  of  the  empire  of  the  Sassanidae.*  The  erection  of  tem- 
ples or  other  buildings  intended  for  worship  was  as  little  to  be  ex- 
pected from  the  later  adherents  to  the  doctrines  of  Zoroaster  as 
from  the  ancient  Persians,  and  no  vestiges  of  palatial  architecture 
are  referable  to  the  century  which  witnessed  the  renewed  life  of  this 
remarkable  people.  If  the  ruin  of  the  palace  of  Diarbekr,  upon 
the  upper  Tigris,  is  indeed  to  be  ascribed  to  Shahpur  II.  (A.D.  310- 
380),  its  ornamentation  of  engaged  columns  of  the  Corinthian  order 
is  a  direct  indication  of  Greek  or  Roman  influence.  Such  classic 
elements  are  hardly  recognizable  in  the  remains  of  the  Palace  of 
Firuz-Abad,  which  was  unquestionably  erected  by  the  king  Firuz 
(Pheroses,  A.  D.  460-488),  and  which  is  consequently  the  oldest 
monument  of  the  Sassanidae  the  age  of  which  is  assured.  The 
palace  was  of  very  considerable  dimensions,  covering  an  oblong 
103  m.  long  and  55m.  broad.  The  grand  entrance,  upon  one  of 
the  narrow  sides,  led  through  two  transverse  corridors  to  three 
domed  halls,  behind  which  the  living-rooms  were  grouped  around 
a  square  court.  This  interior  portion  is  similar  in  plan  to  the  pal- 
aces of  the  ancient  Persians,  the  influence  of  which  is  otherwise  evi- 
dent only  in  the  cornices  of  the  doors  and  niches.  Classic  pilasters 
and  architraves  also  appear,  but  by  far  the  most  important  of  the 
reminiscences  point  to  a  retention  of  early  Mesopotamian  tradi- 
tions. These  are  noticeable  in  the  exceedingly  heavy  walls  of  the 
front,  which  are  over  four  metres  in  thickness, — in  the  engaged  col- 
umns and  pilasters  without  bases  and  without  capitals, — and  in  the 
entire  lack  of  all  isolated  columns.  On  the  other  hand,  a  system 
of  vaulting  is  universally  employed,  to  the  exclusion  of  horizontal 
ceilings :  the  doors,  windows,  and  the  narrow  passages  within  the 
thickness  of  the  walls  being  round-arched,  while  the  barrel-vaults 
and  cupolas  are  of  a  parabolic  outline.  Both  these  systems  of 
stone  ceiling  had  appeared,  at  least  in  their  beginnings,  in  the 
primitive  architecture  of  Assyria.  The  peculiar  custom  of  giving 
to  the  arches  and  vaults  a  larger  diameter  than  was  required  by  the 
opening  between  the  vaults  beneath  them  was  probably  due  to  a 

*  E.  Fiandin  et  P.  Coste,  Voyage  en  Perse.     4  vols.     Paris,  s.  a. 


I22  PERSIA   UNDER   THE   SASSANID^E. 

desire  to  increase  the  stability  of  these  supports.  The  most  im- 
portant achievement  is  the  fine  solution  of  the  problem  of  covering 
a  hall  of  square  plan  with  a  dome :  the  place  of  the  Byzantine  pen- 
dentives  being  taken  by  a  number  of  squinches,  or  arches  of  stepped 
projection,  somewhat  similar  in  construction  to  those  of  San  Lo- 
renzo in  Milan.  (Compare  Fig,  67.) 

The  oblong  Palace  of  Sarbistan  is  of  much  the  same  disposition, 
but  of  smaller  dimensions,  being  only  41  m.  long  by  36  m.  broad. 


Fig.  67. — Section  of  one  of  the  Domed  Halls  of  Firuz-Abad. 

There  is  here  but  one  domed  hall  before  the  square  court,  and  this 
without  the  ornamentation  of  the  ancient  Persian  door  and  window 
cornices.  On  the  other  hand,  the  oblong  spaces  are  provided  with 
columns,  which  are  placed  close  to  the  wall  and  connected  longi- 
tudinally and  latitudinally  by  arches.  The  shafts  are  scarcely  three 
metres  in  height,  and,  like  the  somewhat  lighter  engaged  columns 
of  the  facade  (Fig.  68),  are  without  bases  and  capitals.  It  is  remark- 
able that,  in  contrast  to  those  of  Firuz-Abad,  the  arches  and  even 


ARCHITECTURE.  ^3 

the  cupola-vaults  of  Sarbistan  are  smaller  in  diameter  than  the  dis- 
tance between  their  supports. 

The  most  magnificent  of  the  ruined  palaces  is  that  of  Ctesiphon, 
probably  erected  by  the  Solomon  of  the  Sassanidae  and  contempo- 
rary of  Justinian,  the  great  Khosru  I.,  Nushirvan  (A.  D.  531-579), 
who  founded  his  new  capital  on  the  Tigris  opposite  to  the  ancient 
city  of  Seleucia,  which  had  remained  in  ruins  since  the  third  cen- 
tury after  Christ.  The  entrance  facade  of  this  palace  now  alone 
remains,  and  is  known  as  Takht-i-Chosru  (Throne  of  Khosru).  Its 
enormous  door  is  over  twenty-five  metres  high.  The  fa$ade  (Fig. 
66)  is  profusely  ornamented  with  engaged  columns  and  pilasters  in 


5  -Mm 

Fig.  68. — Yaqa.de  of  the  Palace  of  Sarbistan. 

relief  arranged  in  three  stories,  not"  without  variety  and  an  under- 
standing of  the  constructive  and  artistic  advantages  obtained  by 
proportions  diminishing  as  they  ascend,  but  still  made  most  un- 
pleasant to  the  eye  by  a  want  of  correspondence  in  the  vertical 
arrangement  of  the  shafts.  It  is  not  certain  whether  the  plain 
trapeze -shaped  capitals  of  the  engaged  columns,  which  are  very 
similar  to  those  of  Byzantine  architecture,  were  imitated  from 
Eastern  models ;  but  the  ornamentations  of  other  capitals  of  this 
period,  found  at  Ispahan,  Bi-situn,  etc.  (Fig.  69),  seem  to  lend  sup- 
port to  the  assumption.  The  arches  and  vaults  of  Ctesiphon  are, 


124 


PERSIA   UNDER   THE   SASSANID^. 


in  the  majority  of  cases,  larger  in  diameter  than  the  distance  be- 
tween their  supports,  but  at  times,  also,  they  are  smaller,  — the 
building  thus  combining,  evidently  without  definite  reasons  based 
upon  constructive  advantages,  the  before -mentioned  peculiarities 
of  Firuz-Abad  and  of  Sarbistan. 

Of  the  two  varieties  in  the  form  of  the  arch,  that  introducing 
a  diameter  larger  than  the  distance  between  the  supports  is  by  far 
the  most  important,  because  destined,  in  later  times,  to  be  devel- 
oped into  a  new  architectural  form.  The  upper  corners  of  the 
piers,  or  supporting-walls,  at  first  formed  a  useless  angle,  which,  not 
having  received  an  independent  significance  by  an  impost  cornice, 
was  soon  chamfered  off  so  as  to  form  a  continuation  of  the  line 
of  the  curve.  There  thus  resulted  the  so-called  horseshoe  arch, 

— that  is  to  say,  that 
form  in  which  the 
semicircle  is  contin- 
ued along  the  stilt 
at  its  base  by  two 
small  segments.  The 
horseshoe  shape  ap- 
pears distinctly  pro- 
nounced in  a  monu- 
ment at  Takht-i-Gero, 

on  Mount  Zagros,  the  mouldings  of  which  display  the  characteristics 
of  Seleucidan  and  Roman  architecture,  and  which  consequently 
cannot  be  ascribed  to  a  more  recent  date  than  the  fifth  century 
after  Christ  (Fig.  70).  This  shape  of  the  arch,  however,  was  not 
definitely  determined,  or,  at  all  events,  did  not  become  of  importance 
as  an  indication  of  style,  until  the  Arabs  had  imitated  it,  without 
doubt  from  Sassanian  prototypes,  and  employed  it  in  preference 
to  all  other  forms. 

The  sculpture  of  the  Sassanians  is  more  interesting,  though  per- 
haps not  more  artistic,  than  their  architecture.  The  memorials 
of  the  former  art  are  numerous,  for  traditions  inherited  from  the 
Achaemenidae  inclined  the  later  kings  to  celebrate  their  deeds  by 
rock-cut  reliefs.  The  history  of  ancient  Persia  and  Xenophon's 
Cyropaedia  clearly  show  the  powerful  and  warlike  race  to  have  pos- 


Fig.  69. — Sassanian  Capital,  from  Ispahan. 


SCULPTURE. 


125 


sessed  certain  heroic  and  knightly  traits  which  remind  us  of  the 
chivalry  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Among  the  Sassanians  these  charac- 
teristics seem  to  have  been  increased  by  the  long  subjugation 
of  their  country  during  the  Alexandrian  epoch,  and  by  their  con- 
tinual combats  with  the  hostile  Parthians  and  with  the  Roman 
legions.  We  find  institutions  similar  in  nature  to  those  of  Euro- 
pean chivalry  in  the  martial  training  of  the  mounted  nobility,  in 
the  order  of  battle,  in  the  armor  of  richly  ornamented  helmets, 
coats  of  mail,  lances,  large  swords  and  shields,  and  in  the  magnifi- 
cent caparisons  of  the  horses.  The  equestrian  figure  of  King 
Khosru  II.,  Parviz,  entirely  clad  in  a  suit  of  chain-armor,  as  it  ap- 
pears upon  a  relief 
of  the  rock-cut  mon- 
ument at  Takht-i- 
Bostan,  might  be 
introduced  without 
change  into  the 
picture  of  an  Occi- 
dental tournament. 
These  fantastic 
and  knightly  char- 
acteristics are 
blended,  in  the 
first  period  of  Sas- 
sanian  sculpture, 
with  Roman  in- 
fluences. This  is  especially  evident  in  the  allegorical  figures  of 
victories,  and  in  the  representation  of  the  vanquished  Romans.  A 
favorite  subject  of  the  early  Sassanians  is  the  capture  of  the  Roman 
Emperor  Valerian  by  Shahpur  I.,  in  the  year  250,  this  appearing  at 
Shahpur,  Darabgerd,  and  Nakhsh-i-Rustam  (Fig.  71).  It  is  remark- 
able that  in  these  representations  the  artists  did  not  only  portray 
the  Romans,  known  to  them  by  the  prisoners  of  war,  with  their 
peculiar  facial  types,  characteristic  gestures  and  costumes,  but  even 
adopted  for  these  figures  a  certain  classic  style,  differing  most  de- 
cidedly from  the  traditional  positions  and  draperies  of  the  Sassa- 
nian  king  and  his  retinue.  On  the  other  hand,  this  imitation  of 


Fig.  70. — Sassanian  Monument  at  Takht-i-Gero. 


126 


PERSIA   UNDER   THE   SASSANID^E. 


Western  models  was  in  many  ways  quite  as  helpless  and  lacking 
in  intelligence  as  had  been  the  employment  of  Greek  forms  by  the 
ancient  Persians. 

In  other  respects  the  style  of  Sassanian  sculpture  was  based 
upon  that  of  the  earlier  inhabitants  of  their  land,  the  Assyrians  and 
Persians.  This  is  apparent  in  the  almost  exclusive  limitation  of  the 
subjects  to  warlike  and  hunting  scenes,— in  the  ceremonial  parades, 
at  times  combined  with  mythical  or  allegorical  figures,— and  in  the 
greater  ability  displayed  in  dealing  with  historical  conceptions  than 


Fig.  71. — The  Capture  of  the  Emperor  Valerian  by  Shahpur  I. 
Rock-cut  Relief  at  Nakhsh-i-Rustam. 

with  individual  conditions.  From  this  peculiarity  there  resulted,  in 
both  epochs,  a  certain  dryness,  like  that  of  inventories,  a  monoto- 
nous design  of  the  minor  figures,  and  a  tendency  to  crowded  com- 
positions. The  dependence  upon  the  earlier  art  is  also  recogniza- 
ble in  the  liking  for  a  fleshy  fulness  of  the  bodies,  for  the  luxuriant 
curled  locks  of  hair  and  beard,  and  for  rich  apparel  and  jewellery. 
The  lack  of  understanding  in  the  rendering  of  the  forms  of  the 
human  body,  noticeable  in  the  ancient  art  of  Persia,  is  even  more 
painfully  felt  in  Sassanian  sculpture.  The  draperies  are  puffed  out 


PAINTING.  127 

into  thick  cushions  around  the  shapeless  limbs,  or  flutter  in  many 
folds,  so  as  to  represent  the  waving  of  silken  stuffs  blown  by  the 
wind.  This  wild  play  of  the  wind  with  locks  of  hair,  with  the  ends 
of  garments,  ribbons,  etc.,  is  increased  in  the  same  degree  as  the 
forms  and  proportions  of  the  bodies  become  abnormally  voluptuous 
and  heavy.  This  degeneration  is  the  more  pronounced  the  more 
Sassanian  sculpture  deviates  from  that  of  the  Romans  and  Byzan- 
tines,— turning  from  the  influences  of  the  neighbors  upon  the  West 
to  those  upon  the  East, — especially  to  India. 

The  same  peculiarities  would,  without  doubt,  have  appeared  in 
the  painting  of  the  Sassanians  had  memorials  of  this  art  been  pre- 
served to  us.  If  it  is  permissible  to  draw  conclusions  from  later 
Persian  paintings  of  the  Mohammedan  epoch,  we  may  assume  that 
this  branch  of  art, — although  traditionally  popular  among  the  Per- 
sians, both  in  application  of  pigments  and  in  weaving  and  embroid- 
ery,— must  still  have  stood  upon  a  lower  level  than  sculpture  and 
architecture,  by  reason  of  its  fantastic  and  incorrect  drawing,  irreg- 
ular composition,  and  harsh  coloring. 

Persia  was  the  first  country  invaded  by  advancing  Mohamme- 
dans, and  the  tracts  bordering  this  land  upon  the  south-east,  beyond 
the  Indus,  could  not  long  remain  uninfluenced  by  the  new  faith. 
India*  unquestionably  possessed  a  high  degree  of  culture  during 
the  ages  which  have  been  considered  in  the  "History  of  Ancient 
Art, "maintaining,  indeed,  one  of  the  oldest  civilizations  of  the  world; 
still  it  has  not  been  deemed  advisable  to  treat  of  its  art  in  connec- 
tion with  that  of  classical  antiquity.  The  art  of  this  earliest  period 
is  but  little  known ;  it  appears  probable  that  it  did  not  attain  to 
any  notable  importance  before  the  Christian  period,  and  it  certainly 
did  not  reach  its  full  development  before  the  Middle  Ages.  More- 
over, the  political  history  of  India,  without  which  a  coherent  ac- 
count of  Indian  art  is  not  possible,  is  comparatively  recent.  Before 
the  invention  of  printing  India  had  produced  more  books  than  any 

*  J.  Fergusson  :  Tree  and  Serpent  Worship  ;  or,  Illustrations  of  Mythology  and  Art  in 
India  in  the  First  Centuries  after  Christ.  London,  1868.— The  Same:  History  of  Indian 
and  Eastern  Architecture.  London,  1876.  —  The  Same:  The  Cave  Temples  of  India. 

London, 1880. 


128  INDIA. 

other  country, — namely,  between  ten  and  eleven  thousand  works, — 
among  them  many  of  greater  antiquity  than  are  elsewhere  to  be 
found,  such  as  the  Vedas  and  the  Manu,  dating  to  the  first  half  of 
the  second  millennium  before  Christ ;  but  not  one  of  all  these  is, 
strictly  speaking,  a  historical  work.  The  chronicle  of  the  island  of 
Ceylon  after  250  B.  C,  contained  in  the  Mahawanso,  and  the  lists 
of  kings  from  Chandragupta  down  to  the  extinction  of  the  dynasty 
of  Andhra,  i.e.,  from  325  B.  C.  until  about  A.  D.  400,  given  in  the 
Puranas,  convey  no  distinct  historical  conceptions,  and  are  limited 
to  unimportant  provinces.  The  epigraphical  remains  of  the  country 
have  as  yet  been  but  little  investigated. 

The  ethnographical  relations  of  the  Indian  races  are  by  no 
means  clear.  It  is  only  certain  that  the  highest  position  was  taken 
by  the  Sanskrit-speaking  Aryans,  a  tribe  which  had  emigrated  from 
Central  Asia,  by  the  way  of  the  upper  Indus,  probably  before  the 
beginning  of  the  third  millennium  before  Christ, — which  had  lived 
long  in  the  Punjab,  and  had  attained  to  the  height  of  its  power 
about  2000  B.  C.  As  is  evident  from  the  much  later  epic  poem 
Ramayana,  which  deals  with  this  period  of  supremacy,  this  popu- 
lation was  peaceable  and  nomadic.  It  is  not  known  how  it  came 
about  that,  eight  centuries  later,  in  the  ages  described  in  the  epic 
Mahabharata,  barbarous  and  warlike  hordes  appear  in  place  of  the 
Arian  shepherds ;  and  we  are  quite  as  much  in  the  dark  concern- 
ing the  origin  of  the  Dravidians,  a  race  supposed  to  have  been  of 
Turanian  derivation,  which  had  immigrated  from  beyond  the  lower 
Indus, — as  well  as  concerning  a  third  race,  the  Dasyus,  which  may 
possibly  have  been  of  Slavonic  extraction. 

The  lyric  character  of  the  early  Indian  epics  was  as  little  favora- 
ble to  the  development  of  the  formative  arts  as  were  the  dreamy 
and  metaphysical  speculations  of  Buddha  (Sakya  Muni),  the  great 
reformer  of  the  East,  who  was  born  in  623  B.  C.  at  Ayodhya,  the 
modern  Oudh,  on  the  slopes  of  the  Himalayas.  The  intercourse 
with  Western  nations  was  of  more  decisive  influence  upon  the  arts 
of  India,  these  relations  having  been  intimate  as  early  as  the  time 
of  the  first  kings  of  the  Maurya  dynasty,  325-188  B.C.,  notably 
during  the  reign  of  Chandragupta,  the  Sandrokottos  of  the  Greeks. 
This  king  even  received,  at  his  palace  of  Palibothra,  now  Patna,  on 


ARCHITECTURE.  129 

the  Ganges,  Greek  ambassadors, — among  them  Megasthenes,  who 
was  sent  by  King  Seleucus  of  Syria.  The  Hellenic  influence,  fur- 
thered  by  the  campaigns  of  Alexander  and  the  continual  inter- 
change of  embassies  between  India  and  the  courts  of  Antiochus, 
Antigonus,  Ptolemy,  Philadelphus,  and  Magas  of  Cyrene,  is  distinct- 
ly evident  in  the  structures  erected  by  Asoka  (272-236  B.  C.),  the 
grandson  of  Sandrokottos. 

Asoka  was  the  Constantine  of  Buddhism, — sending  missionaries 
to  Cabul,  Cashmere,  Thibet,  Pegu,  and  Ceylon,  and  transforming, 
within  one  generation,  an  obscure  sect  to  one  of  the  most  wide- 
spread religions  of  the  world.  But  although  he  filled  all  the  prov- 
inces of  India  with  Buddhist  monuments,  he  was  still  not  able  to 
lay  the  foundations  of  a  truly  national  art.  Both  the  religion  and 
the  character  of  the  people  were  without  the  fundamental  elements 
requisite  for  such  a  development.  The  former  was  without  that 
healthy  and  sympathetic  appreciation  of  the  outer  world  which 
leads  to  delight  in  beauty,  while  the  latter  was  entirely  lacking 
in  that  sense  of  definite  form,  of  static  logic,  and  of  the  aesthetic 
expression  of  constructive  requirements,  upon  which  the  devel- 
opment of  a  noble  architecture  is  dependent.  In  like  manner 
the  nation  had  no  conception  of  normal  and  typical  forms  in  the 
representation  of  the  living  organism,  and  was  thus  incapable  of 
achievements  in  painting  and  sculpture  as  well, — the  fanciful  and 
impractical  symbolism,  and  the  voluptuousness  and  monstrosity  of 
Indian  art  putting  the  discipline  of  regular  training  out  of  the 
question. 

Before  the  age  of  Asoka  all  the  architecture  of  the  country  was 
of  wood,  —  the  employment  of  stone  appearing  to  have  been  re- 
stricted to  works  of  engineering,  to  foundations,  the  fortifications 
of  cities,  quays,  canals,  and  bridges.  The  primitive  forms  deter- 
mined by  methods  of  timbered  construction  were  imitated,  and 
gave  the  most  salient  characteristics  to  Indian  architecture,  appear- 
ing alike  in  all  those  varieties  of  the  native  style  which  resulted 
from  the  ethnographical  differences  of  the  Hindoo  races. 

This  fundamental  character  is  recognizable  even  in  those  monu- 
ments, the  nature  of  which  is  in  no  wise  akin  to  buildings  of  wood. 
Chief  among  these  are  the  funeral  piles  known  (in  Sanscrit)  as 

9 


I30  INDIA. 

dhagobas,  or  stupas,  and  from  the  colloquial  Pali  [thupa]  as  topes, 
which  for  the  greater  part  were  erected  to  contain  sacred  relics  of 
Buddha.  At  the  death  of  the  reformer,  in  543  B.  C,  eight  cities 
contested  for  the  honor  of  possessing  his  corpse,  and  commenced 
the  dismemberment  of  his  body,  which  has  since  been  continued 
almost  infinitely.  Not  one  of  the  original  monuments  now  exists, 
but  the  topes  built  by  Asoka  seem  to  indicate  that  the  first  mau- 
soleums of  this  kind  were  similar  in  form  to  the  tumuli  of  Lydia 
and  Etruria,  — the  main  difference  being  that  the  superstructure 
above  the  cylindrical  drum  is  not  conical  but  hemispherical,  or  of 
parabolic  outline,  this  round  form  leading  to  the  popular  tradition 
that  the  tope  was  intended  to  represent  the  bubble  chosen  by 
Buddha  as  the  symbol  of  transitoriness.  The  construction  of  the 
interior,  which,  with  exception  of  the  small  chambers  destined  to 
receive  the  relics,  was  of  solid  masonry,  does  not  indeed  determine 
this  round  form,  wherein  an  imitation  of  the  Indian  roofing  is  per- 
haps recognizable:  the  soft  and  feminine  character  of  the  Indians, 
the  full-breastedness,  so  to  speak,  of  their  luxurious  ideals,  inclining 
them  in  general  to  the  adoption  of  convex  curves. 

If  it  be  true  that  Asoka  erected  eighty-four  thousand  of  these 
reliquary  topes,  it  is  evident  that  they  can  have  been  neither  of 
great  size  nor  of  elaborate  construction.  Without  doubt  many  of 
those  now  preserved  date  to  the  time  of  Asoka,  at  least  in  their 
kernel,  for  it  was  customary  to  increase  the  diameter  of  the  struct- 
ure by  additional  revetments,  which  themselves  contained  minor 
relics.  But  we  cannot  determine  the  age  of  any  monuments  of  this 
kind  older  than  the  group  of  sixty  topes  near  Bhilsa,  a  city  of  the 
kingdom  of  Bhopal,  all  of  which  appear  to  date  to  the  first  cen- 
tury after  Christ.  The  largest  among  these,  the  tope  of  Sanchi 
(Fig.  72),  has  a  lower  diameter  of  only  36  m.  and  a  height  of  15  m., 
nearly  one-third  of  which  latter  dimension  represents  the  elevation 
of  the  slightly  diminished  substructure.  The  summit  of  this  tumu- 
lus was  accessible  by  an  inclined  plane  or  a  flight  of  steps,  and  was 
originally  provided  with  a  balustrade.  The  solid  dome,  built  of 
brick  and  clay,  was  faced  with  hewn  stones  coated  with  stucco, 
and,  as  is  evident  from  representations  of  topes  upon  reliefs,  either 
painted  or  ornamented  by  sculptures.  The  before-mentioned  rep- 


ARCHITECTURE.  13 ! 

resentations  and  the  rock-cut  dhagobas  in  the  interior  of  the  Chaitya 
Caves,  which  will  be  described  below,  show  the  summit  to  have 
been  crowned  by  a  shrine  with  stepped  and  projecting  roof,  doubt- 
less the  imitation  of  a  reliquary,  and  to  have  been  shaded  by  a 
broad  canopy  shaped  like  an  umbrella. 

The  group  of  topes  of  Gandhara,  on  either  side  of  the  upper 
Indus,  between  Cabul  in  Afghanistan  and  Manikyala  in  the  Punjab, 


zs  Ktr. 


Fig.  72. — View  and  Section  of  the  great  Tope  of  Sanchi. 

is  more  recent,  having  been  built  during  the  first  seven  centuries  of 
the  Christian  era.  The  most  important  of  these  monuments  are 
those  in  the  vicinity  of  Manikyala  itself,  many  of  which  appear  to 
have  been  erected  in  the  first  century.  One  of  them  (Fig.  73)  is  of 
hemispherical  form,  elevated  upon  two  distinct  cylinders  decorated 
with  pilasters  and  measuring  38  m.  and  47  m.  in  diameter,  exclusive 
of  the  staircases.  Several  chambers  for  relics  indicate  enlargements 
of  the  structure  at  various  times,  the  last  of  which  alterations  ap- 


132 


INDIA. 


pears,  from  coins  found  in  connection  with  it,  to  have  been  as  late 

as  A.  D.  720. 

The  form  of  these  topes  is  by  no  means  always  the  same.  As 
the  cones  of  the  Etruscan  tumuli  are  of  various  angles  of  elevation, 
so  also  do  the  topes  at  times  rise  in  parabolic  outline  to  the  altitude 
of  towers.  This  is  the  case  with  the  tope  of  Sarnath,  near  Benares, 
on  the  Ganges,  probably  built  in  the  sixth  century  after  Christ,  the 
height  of  which  is  38  m.  and  the  lower  diameter  only  28  m. ;  and 
also  with  a  smaller  tope  in  the  same  vicinity,  built  about  A.  D.  500, 
and  known  as  Jarasandha-ka-Baithak,  which,  with  a  diameter  of  lit- 


F'g-  73- — Restored  Half  View  and  Section  of  the  Tope  of  Manikyala. 

tie  more  than  8  m.,  attains  to  twice  that  height.  The  tope  of  Sar- 
nath appears,  however,  to  be  of  somewhat  different  character  from 
the  majority  of  these  structures,  it  containing  no  relics  and  having 
been  erected  merely  to  commemorate  the  presence  of  Buddha  upon 
that  spot.  The  monument  of  Buddh  Gaya,  a  tower-like  edifice  of 
many  stories,  erected  opposite  to  the  extremely  ancient  and  cele- 
brated bo-tree  (ficus  religiosa),  is  rather  to  be  considered  as  a  tem- 
ple than  as  a  tope. 

The  remains  of  but  few  of  the  topes  now  present  a  true  and 
complete  picture  of  their  original  appearance.  Whatever  has  been 
spared  by  zealous  sectarians  and  Mohammedan  iconoclasts  has 


ARCHITECTURE.  133 

generally  been  destroyed  by  the  heavy  rains  of  India  and  by  the 
luxuriant  plants,  the  roots  of  which  penetrate  and  crumble  even 
the  firmest  masonry.  The  topes  were  particularly  liable  to  this 
disintegration,  not  only  because  of  the  carelessness  and  want  of 
solidity  of  their  construction,  but  because  they  were  in  greater  part 
built  only  of  bricks  cemented  with  clay  and  reveted  with  stucco. 

Many  of  the  topes  are  enclosed  by  railings  which,  although  exe- 
cuted in  stone,  reproduce  the  forms  of  a  wooden  fence  with  extreme 
accuracy.  The  vertical  posts,  placed  at  regular  intervals,  are  con- 
nected by  several  horizontal  beams,  the  oval  or  lens-shaped  section 
of  which,  and  the  character  of  their  joints  with  the  uprights,  so  dis- 
tinctly indicate  a  timbered  construction  that  it  is  quite  impossible 
to  recognize  from  a  drawing  (Fig.  72)  that  they  are  of  stone.  The 
entrance-portals  of  these  enclosures  are  also  imitated  from  carpentry 
work,  translated  into  stone  with  a  profuse  ornamentation  of  figures 
in  relief,  the  forms  of  which  are  similarly  related  to  carvings  in  wood. 
These  enclosures  do  not  appear  in  connection  with  all  the  topes, 
those  of  the  great  group  of  Gandhara  either  being  entirely  without 
the  fence,  or  with  an  imitation  of  the  railings  in  relief  upon  the 
revetment  of  the  substructure  (Fig.  73). 

In  some  instances  there  stood  before  the  portals  of  the  enclos- 
ures peculiar  monuments  known  as  Stambhas,  or  Lats,  destined  to 
commemorate  the  victories  or  merits  of  the  rulers,  and  hence  simi- 
lar in  general  character  to  the  steles  and  obelisks  of  antiquity. 
Several  of  these,  distinguished  by  inscriptions  of  Asoka,  and  con- 
sequently accurately  dated,  distinctly  display  Occidental,  and  nota- 
bly Hellenistic  forms,  this  being  no  doubt  due  to  the  introduction 
of  Greek  culture  into  India  after  the  campaigns  of  Alexander  and 
the  exchange  of  embassies  between  Asoka  and  the  courts  of  the 
Diadochi.  The  best  known  lat  is  that  near  Feroz  Shah  in  Delhi ; 
the  most  remarkable  that  found  in  1837  lying  upon  the  ground 
in  the  fort  of  Allahabad  and  re-erected  upon  a  modern  pedestal. 
The  inscriptions  upon  the  latter  monument  date  from  the  time  of 
Asoka  (272-236  B.C.)  to  Samudra  Gupta  (A.  D.  380-400).  The 
shaft  has  a  diameter  of  .95  m.  below,  diminished  to  .65  m.  above, 
and  together  with  its  base  attains  a  height  of  13  m.  The  abacus 
is  ornamented  with  anthemions  and  astragals  of  a  design  closely 


i34  INDIA- 

resembling  Hellenic  details;  the  remainder  of  the  capital  is  missing. 
In  those  cases  where  the  capital  is  preserved,  as  on  the  triumphal 
columns  of  Sankissa,  in  the  Doab,  and  of  Bettiah,  in  Tirhut,  it  pre- 
sents a  certain  likeness  to  a  part  of  the  Persian  composite  capitals 
of  the  age  of  Xerxes  by  a  wreath  of  leaves  bent  downward.  Groups 
of  lions  or  elephants  also  appear  among  the  forms  employed  as 
terminal  decorations. 

More  important  in  character  than  the  lats  which  stood  before 
the  topes  were  those  erected  before  the  rock-cut  grottos.  These 
caves  are  among  the  most  interesting  monuments  of  ancient  Indian 
architecture.  The  appearance  of  their  exterior,  which  was  provided 
with  porticos  of  columns  or  of  piers,  was  generally  much  the  same ; 
but  the  arrangement  of  the  interior  is  so  different  as  to  require  us 
to  divide  the  grottos  into  two  distinct  classes:  the  Chaityas,  or 
lofty  halls  resembling  the  interior  of  a  basilica,  and  the  Viharas,  or 
cloister-like  dwellings  for  the  priests,  with  low  rooms  of  assemblage 
supported  by  columns  or  piers,  and  a  complex  of  adjoining  small 
chambers.  These  caves  are  generally  found  in  groups,  twenty  or 
thirty  of  them  often  being  in  close  proximity.  As  far  as  they  are 
at  present  known,  the  grottos  of  the  two  varieties,  over  a  thousand 
in  number,  appear  to  have  been  for  the  greater  part  created  in 
connection  with  the  worship  of  Buddha,  not  more  than  two  or 
three  per  cent,  of  the  entire  number  being  works  of  the  Brahmans, 
and  but  seven  or  eight  per  cent,  of  the  Jainas.  More  than  nine- 
tenths  of  those  concerning  which  we  have  information  are  situated 
in  the  presidency  of  Bombay,  separate  groups  appearing  throughout 
India  to  the  borders  of  Afghanistan. 

It  has  been  thought  that  some  of  the  chaitya  caves  may  ante- 
date the  age  of  Asoka.  But  inasmuch  as  the  grotto  of  Sattapanni, 
in  Behar  near  Rajagriha,  before  which  the  assemblage  of  the  year 
543  B.C.  is  supposed  to  have  been  held,  is  still,  in  the  main,  a  natural 
cavity,  the  chaityas  near  Barabar,  about  thirty  kilometers  to  the 
north  of  Gaya,  should  perhaps  be  considered  as  the  most  ancient 
examples  of  artificial  caves  known.  Of  these  the  grotto  of  Sudama, 
or  Nigope,  which  is  dated  by  an  inscription  to  the  twelfth  year  of 
the  reign  of  Asoka  (i.e.,  260  or  264  B.C.),  and  another,  referable  to 
the  nineteenth  year  of  the  same  reign,  are  of  extreme  simplicity  and 


ARCHITECTURE. 


135 


wholly  without  artistic  ornamentation,  being  plain  barrel-vaulted 
chambers  connected  with  a  circular  space,  the  ceiling  of  which  is 
formed  like  a  cupola  (Fig.  74).  The  grotto  of  Lomasrishi  at  the 
same  place,  little  more  recent  than  those  before  mentioned,  displays, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  first  attempts  to  create  a  portal  of  inde- 
pendent importance. 

The  chaityas  of  Bombay  are  far  more  important,  one  of  them, 
known  as  the  grotto  of  Bhaja,  appearing  to  be  as  old  as  the  third 
century  before  Christ.  Its  interior  is  now  exposed  to  view,  as  the 
timbered  construction  which  formerly  closed  the  fa9ade  (Fig.  75) 
has  entirely  disappeared.  According  to  the  representation  of  sim- 
ilar monuments  which  are  carved 
in  the  right  and  left  upper  cor- 
ners of  the  front,  the  wood-work 
must  have  formed  a  heavy  horizon- 
tal entablature  at  the  height  of  the 
impost,  and  have  closed  the  open- 
ing below  with  a  light  tracery. 
The  interior  forms  a  hall  18  m. 
long,  divided  into  three  aisles  by 
two  ranges  of  columns,  each  con- 
sisting of  eleven  octagonal  shafts 
which  incline  inward  and  are  with- 
out bases  and  capitals.  The  nar- 
row side  aisles  were  continued  Fig.  74.— The  Nigope  Grotto  near  Barabar. 

around  the  inner  end  of  the  grotto, 

forming  a  semicircular  passage  like  an  apse,  this  being  divided  from 
the  main  body  of  the  hall  by  five  piers.  The  rock-cut  ceiling  of  the 
nave  imitates  the  form  of  a  stilted  barrel-vault.  The  apse  is  termi- 
nated by  a  conch,  and  this,  as  is  evident  from  the  remains  still  pre- 
served, was  ornamented  with  wooden  arches  shaped  like  the  ribs  of 
a  ship,  in  direct  imitation  of  the  free-standing  timbered  prototypes. 
The  ends  of  the  purlins  which  existed  in  the  original  carpentry  are 
exactly  copied  upon  the  fagade  of  the  grotto.  A  small  tope  stands 
in  the  semicircle  of  the  nave,  taking  the  place  of  the  altar  within 
the  apse  of  the  Christian  church,  and  increasing  the  similarity  of  the 
chaitya  caves  to  the  typical  basilicas.  Although  the  four  rock-cut 


136  INDIA. 

temples  of  Ajanta  are  several  centuries  more  recent  than  the  grotto 
of  Bhaja,  one  of  them -closely  resembles  it  in  general  arrangement. 
The  polygonal  columns  at  Ajanta  are  also  without  bases  and  capi- 
tals, but  they  are  not  inclined  ;  the  wooden  arches  still  appear  upon 
the  ceiling,  but,  at  least  in  the  apse,  are  only  carved  in  imitation 
upon  the  native  rock.  The  fagade  of  wood  seems  to  have  been 
similar  to  that  of  Bhaja,  and,  like  it,  has  disappeared  with  the  ex- 
ception of  slight  traces  in  the  sockets  of  the  beams. 


Fig-  75-— Chaitya  Temple  of  Bhaja. 

The  facade  with  the  portal,  originally  of  timber,  appears  to  have 
been  translated  into  stone  as  early  as  the  second  century  before 
Christ.  This  is  the  case  with  the  chaitya  caves  of  Bedsa  and 
Nassik,  which  are  particularly  interesting  as  direct  copies  of  the 
pointed-arched  roof  of  carpentry.  The  first  of  these  is  further  re- 
markable because  of  two  stambhas  before  its  entrance,  the  capitals 
of  which  steles  display  an  imitation  of  a  reliquary  upon  the  wreath 


ARCHITECTURE.  137 

of   leaves   bent  downward,  and   above   this  groups  of  horses  and 
elephants,  with  male  and  female  riders. 

The  largest  and  the  most  beautiful  chaitya  cave  among  all  the 
rock -cut  temples  of  India  is  that  of  Karli,  between  Bombay  and 
Punah,  dating,  according  to  the  inscriptions  of  Maharaja  Bhuti  or 
Deva  Bhuti,  from  about  the  year  80  B.  C.  The  fa9ade  is  rendered 
exceptionally  imposing  by  a  portico  cut  from  the  native  rock  and 
provided  with  a  gallery  of  wood-work.  This  has  now  entirely  dis- 


Fig.  76.— Plan  and  Section  of  the  Chaitya  Temple  of  Karli. 

appeared,  but  its  arrangement  is  evident  from  the  mortises  cut  to 
receive  the  ends  of  the  beams.  Before  it  stood  a  fine  stambha, 
upon  the  polygonal  shaft  of  which  is  a  capital  consisting  of  a 

;liquary  and  a  group  of  four  recumbent  lions  above  a  wreath 
)f  leaves  bent  downward,  of  the  type  described  above.  The  inte- 
rior of  the  chaitya  of  Karli  is  remarkably  well  preserved,  even  the 

rooden  ribs  of  the  barrel-vault  and  of  the  conch  still  remaining 
intact.  With  the  exception  of  seven  shafts  in  the  apse,  which  are 


138  INDIA. 

treated  like  polygonal  piers  without  bases  and  capitals,  the  columns 
of  the  interior, — fifteen  upon  either  side  of  the  hall, — are  similar  in 
form  and  decoration  to  the  stambhas  (Fig.  76).  The  chaitya  tem- 
ples of  Ajanta,  Ellora,  Kenheri,  Salsette,  Dhumnar,  Kholvi,  and  of 
many  other  places  in  India,  are  by  no  means  lacking  in  interest,  but 
a  consideration  of  their  individual  peculiarities  would  lead  us  too 
far  afield. 

The  viharas,  or  Buddhist  cloisters,  appear  throughout  India  in 
great  number,  frequently  in  connection  with  the  chaitya  caves.  Of 
the  structures  of  this  kind  but  few,  excepting  those  carved  in  the 
native  rock,  have  been  preserved  to  the  present  day,  the  more  im- 
portant and  extensive  free-standing  buildings  being  only  known  to 
us  from  the  descriptions  of  the  Chinese  pilgrims  Fa  Hian  (about 
A.  D.  400)  and  Hiouen  Thsang  (about  A.  D.  640).  The  latter  of 
these  travellers  has  given  an  account  of  the  cloister  Malanda,  built 
in  the  first  century  after  Christ  near  Rajagriha,  an  ancient  capital 
south  of  Patna,  the  Monte  Casino  of  India ;  he  relates  that  it  was 
for  the  greater  part  four-storied  and  built  around  numerous  courts, 
providing  accommodation  for  ten  thousand  priests  and  alumni,  be- 
sides one  hundred  lecture-rooms.  Even  more  extravagant  are  the 
tales  told  by  Fa  Hian  concerning  a  certain  five-storied  vihara,  which 
contained  five  hundred  chambers  on  the  ground-floor,  four  hundred 
in  the  second  story,  three  hundred  in  the  third,  two  hundred  in  the 
fourth,  and  one  hundred  in  the  fifth,  while  the  exterior  of  each  of 
the  stories  imitated  the  form  of  a  different  animal. 

Mr.  Fergusson.  has  pointed  out  that  the  terraced  pyramids,  the 
so-called  rathas  of  Mahavellipore  (compare  Fig.  81),  present  some 
analogies  to  the  description  of  Fa  Hian ;  still,  the  accounts  given 
by  the  Chinese  pilgrims  are  not  sufficient  to  convey  an  adequate 
idea  of  these  monuments  of  Indian  architecture.  The  few  free- 
standing buildings  remaining  in  the  tracts  bordering  India  upon 
the  north-east  do  not  make  up  for  this  lack  of  information.  The 
ruins  of  similar  structures  at  Jamalgiri,  Takht-i-Bahi,  and  Shah- 
dehri  so  distinctly  display  the  influence  of  the  Seleucidae,  which 
had  probably  been  introduced  through  Bactria,  that  in  many  re- 
spects we  should  be  inclined  to  consider  them  as  the  works  of 
Greek  rather  than  of  Indian  architects.  Thus  there  remain  for  our 


ARCHITECTURE.  139 

consideration  only  the  rock-cut  viharas  of  the  central  part  of  India, 
constructions  which  never  attained  the  size  of  the  before-mentioned 
free-standing  cloisters,  but  from  which,  nevertheless,  much  informa- 
tion concerning  those  buildings  is  to  be  derived,  by  reason  of  the 
exact  imitation  of  many  characteristic  details  in  the  carving  of  the 
rock. 

The  fully  developed  architectural  form  of  these  viharas,  like 
that  of  the  chaitya  temples,  does  not  appear  to  have  been  deter- 
mined until  a  comparatively  recent  period  of  Indian  antiquity. 
The  Hathi  Gumpha,  or  elephant  grotto,  of  the  mound  of  Udaya- 
giri,  near  Cuttack  (Orissa),  known  from  inscriptions  to  have  been 
the  work  of  King  Asoka,  who  lived  about  the  same  time  as  Aira, 
appears  to  be  in  the  main  a  natural  cavity.  Several  other  grottos 
of  the  same  place,  dating  to  a  period  before  the  Christian  era, 
also  display  an  entire  inability  to  develop  halls  of  any  consider- 
able size,  or  to  adapt  fitting  architectural  forms  to  the  interior 
of  the  excavation.  The  Ganesa  grotto,  for  instance,  has  but  two 
chambers  besides  an  atrium  supported  upon  five  columns;  while 
that  of  Rani  has  only  two  chambers,  without  a  central  space,  be- 
hind a  portico  of  nine  columns.  The  piers  of  the  Ganesa  grotto 
are  chamfered  at  half  height,  so  as  to  transform  the  square  plan 
to  an  octagon ;  but  in  place  of  the  capitals  there  are  simply  curved 
projections,  which  appear  as  precursors  of  the  console  capitals  de- 
veloped in  later  times  (Fig.  78).  Still  another  vihara  of  the 
mound  of  Udayagiri  shows  how  little  the  design  of  the  fa$ade  was 
formed  after  any  established  architectural  type,  the  exterior  taking 
the  shape  of  a  tiger's  head,  whose  open  mouth  forms  the  entrance 
to  the  single  chamber  of  the  interior. 

Several  viharas  in  the  western  part  of  India,  antedating  the 
Christian    era,  are   decidedly  more   developed    than    those   before 
mentioned ;  this  is  particularly  the  case  with  the  chaityas  of  Bhaja 
and  of  Bedsa  and  with  two  of  the  grottos  at  Ajanta.     The  first  of 
these,  the  most  ancient,  has  five  chambers,  to  which  access  is  pro- 
•ided  by  a  passage  cut  directly  into  the  rock  and  remaining  open 
.t  the  front.     The  second  has  nine  chambers,  grouped  around  a 
lall  which  is  terminated  at  the  inner  end  by  an  apse.     The  older 
the  two  grottos  of  Ajanta,  above  referred  to,  consists  of  a  square 


1 40  INDIA- 

hall  with  four  chambers  opening  from  it.  The  interior  of  the  more 
recent  (Fig.  77),  which  was  probably  constructed  but  shortly  before 
the  Christian  era,  displays  for  the  first  time  a  hypostyle  hall  with 
four  columns,  besides  an  atrium  or  portico  of  two  columns,  and 
nine  chambers,  arranged  in  perfect  regularity  upon  three  sides  of 
the  hall.  In  later  times  the  arrangement  of  the  atrium  and  its 
columns  was  little  varied,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  hypostyle 
hall  was  frequently  omitted  altogether,  as  is  the  case  with  the 
viharas  of  Nassik,  which  date  to  the  first  three  Christian  centu- 
ries. The  general  features  manifest  in  Ajanta  continued  to  be  fur- 
ther developed  in  later  constructions  of  the  kind.  A  rectangular 
plan, — tetrastyle  or  octostyle  atria, — grand  hypostyle  halls,  similar 

in  plan  to  the  many-columned  courts  of 
Greece,— and  regular  ranges  of  chambers 
on  three  sides  of  the  halls  became  gener- 
al, as  did  also  the  introduction  of  chapels 
in  the  middle  of  the  rear  wall,  —  as,  for 
instance,  in  several  viharas  of  Ajanta,  in 
the  grotto  at  Bagh,  in  the  Durbar  grotto 
at  Salsette,  and  elsewhere. 

In  common  with  the  architecture  of 
Fig.  77.— Plan  of  the  Vihara        almost  all  civilized  nations,  the  forms  of 
Grotto  of  Ajanta.  the  columns  exemplify  most  clearly  the 

peculiarities  of  the  various  styles.      The 

development  of  the  isolated  support  is  more  readily  followed  in 
the  viharas  than  in  the  chaitya  grottos.  As  in  Egypt,  the  treat- 
ment of  the  shaft  results  from  the  chamfering  of  the  angles  of  a 
pier  of  square  plan,  the  eight  and  the  sixteen  sided  prism  being 
thus  determined.  The  most  primitive  transformation  of  the  rec- 
tangular pier  is  that  appearing  in  the  Ganesa  grotto  referred  to 
above,  where  the  number  of  angles  is  only  increased  for  a  short 
space  in  the  middle  of  the  support  (Fig.  78,  &).  A  second  phase 
of  development  is  marked  by  the  adoption  of  the  octangular  plan 
for  the  entire  height  of  the  shaft,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  chaitya 
temple  of  Bhaja  (Fig.  75).  A  favorite  device  of  later  times  was  to 
divide  the  height  of  the  column  into  sections  of  rectangular,  octan- 
gular, and  sixteen  sided  plan,  the  greatest  number  of  angles  being 


ARCHITECTURE.  I4! 

in  the  middle  of  the  shaft.  There  was  no  channelling  to  emphasize 
the  arrises ;  but  an  ornamentation,  at  times  in  horizontal  bands,  is 
frequently  applied  to  mask  the  junctures  of  the  different  prisms 
(Figs.  78,  a  and  c). 

As  was  the  case  with  the  columnar  orders  of  the  Egyptians  and 
of  the  Greeks,  two  distinct  classes  of  capitals  early  appear  in  the 
architecture  of  India:  the  one  developed  from  expedients  of  con- 
struction, the  other  resulting  from  a  decoration  of  floral,  and  even 
of  animal  forms.  The  first  of  these  varieties  gives  aesthetic  ex- 
pression to  the  necessary  projection  of  the  capital,  by  placing  con- 
soles in  the  direction  of  the  ceiling  beams,  thus  fulfilling,  in  a 
highly  satisfactory  manner,  the  requirements  of  an  intermediate 
member  between  the  support  and  the  imposed  weight.  The  ad- 
vantages of  this  arrangement  appear  especially  in  those  cases  where 
the  column  stands  beneath  the  intersection  of  two  main  beams,  so 
that  the  brackets  are  affixed  to  four  sides  of  the  shaft.  The  three 
illustrations  of  Indian  console  capitals  given  in  Fig.  78  plainly  show 
that  these  projections,  as  soon  as  they  have  obtained  a  higher  de- 
velopment than  that  observable  in  the  piers  of  the  Ganesa  grotto, 
are  similar  in  principle  to  the  spirally  ornamented  brackets  of  As- 
syrian and  Phoenician  capitals,  and  consequently  to  the  perfected 
Ionic  helix  of  Greece. 

The  second  manner  of  treatment,  based  upon  a  floral  decoration, 
was,  in  Egyptian  architecture,  extended  to  the  entire  column ;  in 
India,  on  the  other  hand,  it  was  usually  restricted  to  the  capital  and 
to  the  base.  In  the  latter  case,  as  in  the  former,  the  bud  or  the 
calix  of  a  flower  was  the  form  most  commonly  imitated,  this  model, 
however,  being  treated  with  the  greatest  freedom.  The  tendency 
to  repeat  the  horizontal  divisions  of  the  shaft  by  encircling  bands, 
and  to  multiply  the  members  both  of  the  capital  and  of  the  base, 
was  so  unfavorable  to  the  design  as  a  whole  that  the  floral  sup- 
ports of  India  did  not  remotely  attain  to  the  organic  unity  of  the 
Egyptian  lotos  columns, — even  as  the  chamfered  piers  above  de- 
scribed were  inferior  to  the  proto-Doric  shafts  of  Beni-hassan.  The 
luxuriant  vegetation  of  India  perhaps  accounts  for  the  overloaded 
character  of  the  floral  column.  Rows  of  leaves,  bent  both  upward 
and  downward,  appear  upon  the  calix  capitals  in  a  manner  resem- 


142 


INDIA. 


bling  that  observable  in  the  Persian  monuments  of  the  age  of 
Xerxes,  to  the  details  of  which  one  of  the  capitals  of  the  Vihara 
Grotto  at  Ajanta  (Fig.  79,  c)  is  strikingly  similar.  A  capital  of  the 
Yadnya-Sri  Grotto  (Fig.  79,  b),  placed  beneath  an  abacus  with  pro- 
jecting brackets,  approaches  in  form  the  spirals  of  the  Ionic  style, 
as  it  is  ornamented  by  twisted  foliage  falling  at  the  four  corners 
over  a  heavy  roundel  similar  in  character  to  an  echinus.  This 
transformation  of  the  round  section  of  the  capital  to  a  square  is 


Fig.  78. — Buddhist  Supports  with  Console  Capitals. 


a.  From  a  Grotto  at  Ajanta. 


b.  From  the  Ganesa  Grotto 
near  Cuttack. 


c.  From  a  Grotto  at  Ajanta, 


perhaps  to  *be  derived  from  that  form  of  the  column  in  which  a 
reversed  calix  forms  the  lower  part  of  the  capital,  correspond- 
ing to  the  similar  but  upright  ornament  of  the  base,  while  the 
bud  of  the  flower  seems  to  be  enclosed  in  a  square  shrine  re- 
sembling the  Buddhist  reliquaries  described  above.  Decorations 
of  this  kind  have  already  been  met  with  upon  the  stambhas  and 
the  interior  supports  of  the  chaitya  halls.  One  of  the  columns 


ARCHITECTURE. 


143 


of  the  Nahapana  Grotto  at  Nassick,  answering  to  this  description, 
is  represented  by  Fig  79,  a.  The  images  of  animals,— lions,  horses, 
elephants,  or  oxen,  as  in  the  last-mentioned  instance,  with  or  with- 
out human  figures, — are  also  transferred  from  the  stambhas  to  the 
capitals  of  columns,  where  they  are  employed  to  mask  the  juncture 
of  the  support  with  the  horizontal  beam,— much  in  the  same  way 
as  were  the  double-headed  lions  and  bulls  of  Persian  architecture. 


Fig.  79. — Buddhist  Columns  with  Floral  and  Animal  Ornamentations. 


a.  From  the  Nahapana  Grotto 
at  Nassick. 


b.  From  the  Yadnya-Sri  Grotto 
at  Nassick. 


c.  From  a  Vihara  Grotto 
at  Ajanta. 


When  consoles  are  added  to  floral  capitals,  but  little  height  is 
commonly  allowed  to  these  projections.  The  architrave  is  low, 
indeed  not  much  thicker  than  a  board,  while  the  other  members  of 
the  entablature  are  generally  hidden  behind  a  projecting  cornice  of 
convex  profile.  The  ceilings  are  formed  by  a  simple  construction 
of  intersecting  beams,  this  carpentry  being  as  exactly  imitated  in 
the  grottos  of  India  as  in  the  rock-cut  tombs  of  Etruria. 

The  domestic  edifices  of  India  continued  to  be  built  almost 
exclusively  of  wood.  As  far  as  the  forms  can  be  judged  from  the 

tialogies  of  ecclesiastical  architecture,  and  from  the  representations 


144  INDIA. 

on  reliefs,  the  terminations  of  doors  and  windows  were  of  the  same 
pointed  arch  which  lias  been  noticed  in  the  outline  of  the  topes, 
and  in  the  portals  and  vaults  of  the  chaitya  caves.  The  different 
stories  were  probably  set  back  so  as  to  form  narrow  terraces,  the 
reliefs  showing  balustrades,  similar  to  those  used  for  the  enclosure 
of  the  topes,  to  have  been  so  arranged  as  to  hide  the  lower  part  of 
the  windows.  The  uppermost  story  receded  even  more  from  those 
below  it, — the  terrace  surrounding  it  being  covered  with  a  lean-to 
roof,  which  was  upheld  by  the  posts  of  the  balustrade.  Many- 
storied  buildings  seem  to  have  been  the  rule. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  century  after  Christ  Buddhism 
was  decidedly  upon  the  wane.  Troublous  times  followed,  during 
which  the  history  of  India  is  a  blank,  or  at  best  a  confused  account 
of  civil  wars  which  for  three  centuries  devastated  the  country.  At 
the  end  of  this  period  Buddhism  appears  limited  to  a  small  cor- 
ner of  Bengal,  —  in  the  West  flourished  the  Jaina  sects,  an  out- 
growth of  the  older  religion, — in  the  East  the  worship  of  Vishnu, — 
in  the  South  that  of  Siva. 

Jainism  soon  became  pre-eminent,  and  extended  itself  over  the 
greater  part  of  Western  Asia.  Concerning  the  beginnings  of  its  art 
little  is  known,  but  it  seems  at  first  to  have  been  entirely  depend- 
ent upon  that  of  the  Buddhists.  The  peculiar  style  of  the  Jainas 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  fully  developed  much  before  the 
eleventh  century,  and  is  thus  almost  of  modern  origin.  We  hence 
limit  our  description  to  its  earliest  period  and  to  its  most  rudi- 
mentary traits. 

The  most  important  characteristics  of  this  style  were  determined 
by  the  exclusive  adoption  of  stone  in  place  of  timbered  construc- 
tions, both  the  general  design  and  the  details  being  decisively  in- 
fluenced thereby.  The  forms  of  arches  and  vaults  do  not  imitate 
the  curved  and  pointed  ribs  of  wood,  as  in  the  architecture  of  the 
Buddhists,  but  present  themselves  as  a  development  of  the  primi- 
tive system  of  the  false  arch, — that  is  to  say,  of  horizontal  courses 
of  masonry  so  projecting  as  to  form  a  ceiling.  In  place  of  the 
massive  topes  we  find,  among  the  Jainas,  the  so-called  Sikras,  or 
Vimanas,  structures  somewhat  resembling  the  Tholoi  of  Greece. 
The  external  appearance  of  these  monuments  indicates  the  shape 


ARCHITECTURE. 


of  the  high,  pointed  arched  chamber  within.  They  are  of  square 
plan,  elevated  upon  a  cubical  substructure,  and  are  terminated  upon 
the  exterior  by  a  dome  similar  in  form  to  a  flattened  melon.  With 
these  vimanas  are  connected  more  or  less  complicated  colonnades, 
the  design  of  which  shared  the  tall  proportions  of  the  tholoi,  and 
was  not  without  a  certain 
magnificence  and  charm. 
In  the  columns  of  this 
style  the  four -sided  con- 
sole capital  is  repeated  at 
two -thirds  the  height  of 
the  shaft  (Fig.  80),  serving 
here  as  the  impost  of  a 
peculiar  strut,  which  pro- 
vided a  support  for  the 
middle  of  the  horizontal 
beam.  The  wide  span  of 
the  architrave,  rendered 
possible  by  this  rational 
expedient,  was  connected 
with  a  complicated  ceiling 
construction,  which  form- 
ed, by  a  system  of  squares 
alternately  parallel  to  the 
sides  and  to  the  diagonal 
of  the  plan,  a  varied  and 
pleasing  system  of  coffers. 
The  buildings  of  the  Jaina 


style,  commonly  restricted 


Fig.  80. — Columns  of  the  Jaina  Style. 


a.  From  the  so-called  Ganthai  at 
tO     moderate      dimensions,          Khajuraho  (seventh  century). 


b.  From  the  Temple  of  Gy- 
raspore  (ninth  century). 

thus  attained  a  light  and 

graceful  character.  On  the  other  hand,  numerous  temples  and 
chapels  erected  at  various  periods  were  often  combined  with  a 
single  complex,  so  as  to  form  an  extended  city  of  sacred  edifices. 
The  holy  mountain  of  Satrunjaya,  near  Palitana,  and  the  buildings 
at  Girnar,  not  far  from  Puttun  Somnath,  are  remarkable  examples 
of  such  aggregates. 

10 


I46  INDIA. 

A  third  style,  differing  both  from  that  of  the  Buddhists  and  that 
of  the  Jainas,  is  known  by  the  name  of  Dravidian.  This  style  was 
employed  as  well  by  the  worshippers  of  Vishnu  as  by  those  of  Siva, 
the  artistic  work  of  these  sects,  which  were  otherwise  so  antag- 
onistic, being  so  similar  that  their  sculptures  are  generally  distin- 
guishable only  by  the  subjects  represented.  The  monuments  of 
the  Dravidians  are  not  as  old  as  those  of  the  Buddhists.  There 
are  but  few  instances  of  works  of  this  style  dating  to  the  fifth  or 
sixth  centuries,  chief  among  which  are  the  so-called  Rathas  of  Ma- 
havellipore,  near  Madras ;  and  even  those  of  the  eighth  or  ninth 
centuries,  such  as  the  kylas  buildings  of  Ellora  and  the  great  tem- 
ples of  Purudkul  (Pattadkul),  are  exceptional.  Indeed,  by  far  the 
greater  number  of  the  monuments  of  Dravidian  art  were  erected 
subsequently  to  the  Middle  Ages, — the  period  of  its  greatest  ac- 
tivity being  as  late  as  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries. 
Hence,  this  manner  of  building  would  not  come  under  our  present 
consideration  at  all,  were  it  not  that  the  immutability  of  Dravidian 
designs  permits  us  to  see  even  in  the  latest  works,  such  as  the  Pe- 
rumal  Pagoda,  at  Madura,  a  close  similarity  to  the  original  forms  of 
the  style,  so  that  modern  edifices  may  serve  as  direct  illustrations 
of  the  ancient  remains. 

The  Rathas  of  Mahavellipore  (Fig.  81)  are  carved  from  enormous 
isolated  blocks  of  granite.  Upon  the  exterior  they  were  carried  to 
a  certain  degree  of  completion,  but  the  chambers  within  were  left 
partially  excavated  and  unfinished,  probably  on  account  of  the 
difficulties  presented  by  fractures  in  the  rock.  Two  of  the  rathas 
are  of  small  dimensions,  each  side  of  the  approximately  square  plan 
measuring  between  3  m.  and  4  m.,  with  a  height  of  from  5  m.  to 
6  m. ;  a  third  is  8  m.  square  and  10  m.  high.  These  three  struct- 
ures seem  to  have  been  modelled  after  the  viharas  of  the  Buddhists, 
and  in  their  turn  served  as  prototypes  for  the  free-standing  viman- 
as  of  the  Dravidians.  The  two  remaining  rathas  are  oblong,  and 
follow  in  some  measure  the  arrangement  of  the  Buddhist  chaityas. 

The  Dravidian  style  appears  far  more  developed  in  the  Kylas  of 
Ellora,  which  probably  dates  from  the  ninth  century.  This  rock- 
cut  temple, — one  of  the  most  important  works  of  Indian  architect- 
ure,— consists  of  a  connected  series  of  monuments  which,  instead 


ARCHITECTURE.  l^ 

of  being  hewn  out  of  isolated  rocks,  as  at  Mahavellipore,  are  ex- 
cavated from  a  solid  plateau  according  to  a  regular  plan.  The 
quarrying  out  of  the  extensive  court,  leaving  the  entire  temple  stand- 
ing within  it,  must  have  been  a  task  of  enormous  difficulty.  More- 
over, at  Ellora  the  interior  was  not  neglected,  as  was  the  case  in 
the  before-mentioned  rathas,  and  the  rigid  symmetry  of  the  original 
design  excluded  all  adaptation  of  the  plan,  during  the  progress  of 
the  work,  to  the  peculiarities  of  the  geological  formation. 

The  ornamentation  of  these  rock -cut  monuments,  favored  by 
the  manner  of  their  execution,  was  profuse,  but  this  was  far  sur- 


Fig.  81. — The  so-called  Rathas  of  Mahavellipore. 

passed  by  the  sculptured  decorations  of  the  free-standing  Dravidian 
temples,  which  were  so  overloaded  as  to  render  a  systematic  de- 
scription of  them  here  impossible.  The  most  fantastic  decorations, 
consisting  of  floral  and  animal  forms  as  well  as  of  patterns  of 
straight  and  curved  lines,  are  combined  with  mouldings  and  cornices 
in  a  manner  so  disconnected  that  the  entire  structure  appears  un- 
organized and  without  fundamental  static  principles.  The  decora- 
tive details,  like  the  vegetation  of  the  country,  form  a  rank  over- 
growth, entirely  burying  the  constructive  members  beneath  a 
whimsical  and  distorted  ornamentation. 

It  would  lead  us  too  far  to  follow  in  detail  all  the  remaining 


I48  INDIA. 

architectural  styles  of  India, — the  chief  works  of  which,  moreover, 
do  not  come  under  our  present  consideration,  inasmuch  as  they 
were  created  subsequently  to  the  mediaeval  epoch  and  to  the  Mo- 
hammedan invasion.  The  Chalukyan  style,  which  appeared  in  the 
Dekan,  between  the  southern  coasts  of  India  and  the  Ganges,  and 
that  style  which  extended  from  the  Ganges  to  the  slopes  of  the 
Himalayas,  were  both  formed  by  a  combination  of  the  Jaina  and 
Dravidian  styles,  in  such  a  manner  that  with  the  former  the  Dravid- 
ian,  and  with  the  latter  the  Jaina,  elements  were  the  most  promi- 
nent. Among  the  Himalaya  Mountains  themselves,  as  in  the  Pun- 
jab during  the  Buddhist  period,  Western  influences  are  plainly 
recognizable.  None  of  these  districts,  however,  produced  a  fully 
pronounced  and  characteristic  style :  in  great  measure  because  of 
the  interruption  of  the  natural  development  by  the  invasion  of  the 
Moslems,  and  by  the  introduction  through  them  of  Persian  ele- 
ments. The  difficulties  presented  to  a  systematic  consideration  of 
Indian  art  by  the  anomalous  character  of  the  monuments  are 
greatly  enhanced  by  the  almost  entire  lack  of  trustworthy  historical 
information  in  regard  to  these  works.  Even  less  is  to  be  gathered 
concerning  the  art  of  the  countries  to  the  east  of  India,  among 
which  Siam,  Cambodia,  and  Java  alone  have  been  explored,  and 
are  not  entirely  without  historical  data.  Still  it  is  certain  that  their 
civilization,  especially  in  the  Southern  districts,  is  more  closely  re- 
lated to  that  of  China  than  to  that  of  India. 

Among  a  people  so  entirely  in  conformity  with  the  nature  by 
which  they  were  surrounded,  leading  so  passive  and  adventitious  a 
life  as  did  the  inhabitants  of  India,  circumstances  were  as  unfavor- 
able to  sculpture  as  to  architecture.  The  employment  of  decorative 
carvings  was,  it  is  true,  so  extensive  as  even  to  interfere  with  the 
development  of  the  architectural  structure.  But  the  art  is  lacking 
in  the  most  important  fundamental  principles, — namely,  in  the  de- 
voted study  of  normal  and  typical  forms,  as  well  as  of  individual 
.  peculiarities,  and,  above  all,  in  energy  of  conception  and  treatment. 
The  dreamy  and  effeminate  life  of  India  rendered  all  higher  devel- 
opment of  sculpture  impossible,  not  permitting  it  to  attain  an  in- 
dependent and  clearly  pronounced  individuality,  and  giving  it  the 
nerveless  character  of  a  plant  growth  while  allowing  full  license  to 


SCULPTURE. 


149 


a  capricious  and  arbitrary  imagination.  As  the  architecture  was 
without  a  dominating  framework  based  upon  static  laws,  so  were 
the  works  of  sculpture  soft  and  formless,  flaccid  of  muscle,  and  ap- 
parently without  a  bony  structure.  In  some  representations  of  per- 
fect quiet  and  drowsy  reflectiveness,  as  in  the  images  of  Buddha 
and  of  various  deities  in  the  Indian  Pantheon,  native  sculpture  at- 
tains a  great  perfection  of  style  by  reason  of  the  entire  harmony 
between  the  subject  and  the  manner  of  expression.  But  as  soon  as 
it  passes  beyond  the  limits  of  this  inert  and  introspective  dream- 
world, the  art  appears  feeble  and  inadequate. 

This  inadequacy  is  not  evident  in  sculpture  alone,  and  should 
not  be  regarded  as  resulting  from  any  special  lack  of  aptitude  for 
that  art.  In  poetry,  for 
instance,  the  great  epics 
Ramayana  and  Mahabha- 
rata,  as  well  as  Kalidasa's 
Sakuntala,  the  products 
of  very  different  periods, 
are  alike  essentially  lyric : 
although  displaying  great 
acuteness  and  delicacy  of 
appreciation,  they  cer- 
tainly do  not  favor  the 
creation  of  individual 
and  sharply  characterized 
forms.  These  visionary 
Indian  gods  of  fixed  gaze, 

whose  noiseless  chariot  wheels  raise  no  dust,  who  cast  no  shadows, 
and  walk  without  touching  the  ground,  lend  themselves  as  little  to 
pictorial  representations  as  do  the  images  of  the  Christian  Apoca- 
lypse. The  monstrous  creations  with  many  heads,  arms,  eyes,  etc., 
on  one  body,  appear  most  unfavorably  in  the  formative  arts,  and 
the  preparatory  work  of  the  poets,  in  Greece  so  serviceable,  was  in 
this  respect  a  positive  disadvantage  to  Indian  sculpture  and  paint- 
ing. Drawbacks  of  this  nature  are  particularly  apparent  in  the  por- 
trayal of  legendary  and  historical  subjects,  in  which  the  action  is 
superficial  and  without  real  force,  the  flaccid  muscles  of  the  body 


Fig.  82. — Relief  from  the  Tope  of  Amravati. 


150 


INDIA. 


appearing  incapable  of  energetic  movement.  This  impotence  is 
not  relieved  by  the  multiplication  of  the  extremities,  nor  by  the 
sprawling  postures  of  the  arms  and  legs,  which  rather  appear  to  be 
disjointed,  or,  at  best,  to  be  outstretched  in  a  lazy  and  ineffectual 
manner. 

Nevertheless  a  certain  beauty  cannot  be  denied  to  Indian  art, — 
even  as  the  Hindoos  themselves  are  to  be  reckoned  as  the  most 
comely  among  the  Asiatic  races,  being  pleasing  of  countenance, 
with  tall  and  graceful  figures  and  delicately  formed  extremities. 
Nor  was  the  race  lacking  in  an  appreciation  of  these  merits,  as  the 
works  of  the  Indian  poets  abundantly  prove.  Still  the  chief  de- 
light is  found  in  round,  voluptuous,  and  graceful  forms,  —  in  a 


Fig-  83.— Relief  from  the  Tope  of  Sanchi. 

smooth  and  soft  flesh,  which  hides  the  structure  of  bones,  sinews, 

and  muscles.     Hence  the  larger  the  dimensions  of  the  sculptures 

the  more  inadequate  does  the  treatment  appear:  for  while  the  mere 

outline  may  be  sufficient  for  a  pleasing  effect  in  works  of  small 

scale,  in  colossal  figures  the  lack  of  modelling  and  the  vacancy  of 

surfaces   is  painfully  evident.      In  these   respects  the  Indian 

contrast   most  unfavorably  with   the   sinewy  vigor   of  the 

ulptures  of  Egypt,  or  with  the  heavy  muscular  force  of  those  of 

Mesopotamia. 

The  peculiar  disposition  of  the  Indians,  and  especially  the  sensi- 
appreciativeness  of  their  nature,  though  so  unpropitious  to 


PAINTING.  151 

sculpture,  might  be  supposed  to  be  decidedly  favorable  to  painting, 
and  particularly  to  the  expression  of  human  feelings  through  that 
art.  Yet  although  representations  of  imaginary  landscapes  are 
known  to  have  been  attempted  at  an  early  period,  it  still  appears 
that  the  Hindoos  never  elevated  painting  above  a  mere  colored 
decoration.  Indeed  their  painting  is  less  important  than  their 
weaving  and  embroidery,  and,  at  least  in  the  decoration  of  utensils 
and  the  drawing  of  miniatures,  seems  to  have  been  left  in  the  hands 
of  women.  The  weaving  of  carpets,  for  which  the  Indians  had 
been  famed  from  the  earliest  times,  was  evidently  cultivated  to  the 
disadvantage  of  painting,  which  art  was  employed  in  more  exten- 
sive tasks  only  as  a  substitute  for  textile  decoration.  Few  vestiges 
of  painting  dating  to  the  earlier  periods  of  Indian  history  have  been 
preserved  ;  and  it  is  not  always  safe  to  draw  inferences  from  modern 
works  in  regard  to  the  characteristics  of  a  former  style.  We  are 
thus  obliged  to  content  ourselves  with  the  authority  of  the  literary 
remains  in  maintaining  that  colored  decorations  were  popular  among 
the  ancient  Indians,  but  were  not  elevated  from  a  mere  ornamenta- 
tion of  walls  and  utensils  by  common  artisans  to  an  independent 
artistic  importance.  In  those  exceptional  cases  where  painting  at- 
tained to  some  eminence  this  was  probably  due  chiefly  to  the  inter- 
est of  the  subject  represented,  and  to  the  decorative  general  effect 
of  the  composition.  This  was,  at  all  events,  true  in  regard  to  the 
sculptures  in  relief,  which  must  have  been  the  more  similar  to  paint- 
ings, inasmuch  as  the  reliefs,  devoid  of  all  formal  regularity,  had 
themselves  deviated  from  the  principles  of  sculpture  and  approached 
to  the  character  of  painting. 

The  art  of  the  great  countries  of  Eastern  Asia  is  strikingly  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  India.  The  practical  and  rational  tendencies  of 
the  Chinese  and  Japanese  have  led  them  to  consider  usefulness  as 
the  criterion  of  all  human  activity ;  they  have  thus  been  saved  from 
sinking  into  that  dreamy  life  of  transcendental  speculation  peculiar 
to  the  Hindoos.  The  close  ethnographical  relations  of  the  Chinese 
with  the  Polynesian  races  rendered  them  little  inclined  to  adopt  the 
artistic  influences  of  the  South  and  West,  even  after  the  time  when 
the  religion  of  Buddha  had  in  great  part  superseded  the  native  doc- 


,52  CHINA. 

trines  of  Confucius.  The  intellectual  disposition  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  celestial  empire  is  so  sober-minded  and  unimaginative  that 
there  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  the  third  religion  of  the  country, 
that  of  Lau-tse  (the  Prophet  of  Reason),  which  is  so  entirely  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  national  character,  will  continue  to  be  further  and 
further  extended  among  the  Chinese.  The  formative  arts,  in  their 
higher  significance,  thus  have  had  no  existence  among  this  people, 
who  are  even  destitute  of  the  more  universally  appreciated  art  of 
poetry.  As  they  have  ever  done  all  things  with  reference  to  the 
greatest  practical  usefulness,  every  branch  of  workmanship  has 
steadily  flourished  among  the  Chinese  since  a  period  of  history 
more  remote  than  that  illustrated  by  the  memorials  of  any  other 
people,  with  exception,  perhaps,  of  the  Egyptians  and  the  Mesopo- 
tamians.  As  is  well  known,  the  Chinese  have  preceded  the  Occi- 
dentals in  technical  inventions  of  the  most  various  kinds. 

So  entirely  lacking  was  the  feeling  for  monumental  architecture 
among  the  Chinese,  on  the  other  hand,  that  even  their  works  of 
engineering  were  seldom  of  important  dimensions,  and  never  at- 
tained to  a  real  grandeur  of  design.  The  great  Chinese  wall,  built 
about  200  B.C.,  is  unduly  celebrated,  notwithstanding  its  length 
of  over  two  thousand  kilometers,  as  it  nowhere  attains  a  greater 
height  than  6  m.  It  did  not  serve  the  purpose  for  which  it  was 
built,  and  the  attempt  to  form  a  boundary  fortification  of  this  extent 
was  not  repeated.  Long-continued  peace  and  the  surety  of  owner- 
ship in  Eastern  Asia  rendered  the  construction  of  works  of  military 
engineering  unnecessary.  In  China  those  classes  of  society  were 
lacking  which  elsewhere  have  fostered  monumental  constructions : 
there  was  no  luxurious  and  magnificent  hierarchy,  and  no  warlike 
hereditary  nobility.  Even  the  imperial  palaces  were  not  remarkable 
for  stability  and  for  imposing  architectural  effects,  and  it  is  not 
strange  that  the  subjects  were  little  inclined  to  erect  enduring 
structures  for  the  benefit  of  later  generations. 

In  those  works  which  were  not  created  to  serve  the  ends  of 
practical  usefulness,  and  which  are  to  be  especially  considered  as 
monuments  of  art,  the  Chinese  and  Japanese  displayed  little  more 
than  a  childish  trifling.  Their  art  consequently  is  doll-like, — not 
without  its  charms  in  those  cases  where  the  dimensions  and  pur- 


ARCHITECTURE. 


153 


poses  of  the  works  agreed  with  this  tendency,  but  mean  and  inade- 
quate when  dealing  with  grand   monumental   problems.     Chinese 
temples,  even  when  enlarged  far  beyond  the  dimensions  of  the  ordi- 
nary village  pagodas,  always  retained  a  certain  similarity  to  the 
pavilions  of  a  pleasure -garden.     The  methods  of  construction,  as 
well  as  the  materials  employed  in  the  decoration  of  such  edifices, 
as,  for  instance,  lacquered  wood 
and  porcelain,  degrade  architect- 
ure to  a  level  with  the  manu- 
facture of  utensils.    The  curved 
edges  of  roofs,  the  unnaturally 
twisted  ends  of  the  beams,  orna- 
mented with  fantastic  carvings, 
the  dangling  bells,  etc.,  have  no 
higher  character  than  a  coquet- 
tish  prettiness,  and   cause   the 
buildings  to  appear  like  magni- 
fied bric-a-brac.     The  entire  art 
of  China  may  be  described  as 
an    extension    and    elaboration 
of   the    peculiar    toys    of    that 
country.      The    funeral   monu- 
ments  resemble  nothing  more 
than  Louis  Quatorze  clocks  and 
similar    rococo    ornaments,    for 
which,  indeed,  since   the  intro- 
duction   of    Chinese    porcelain 
into  Europe,  they  have  not  un-      Fig.  84.— Pagoda  of  Tung-Chow,  China, 
frequently  served  as  direct  mod- 
els.    The  richly  adorned  portals  (pailus),  though  executed  in  stone, 
appear  to  be  a  whimsical  imitation  of  elaborate  cabinet-work.     The 
temple  towers  (taas)  are  like  magnified  centre-pieces  of  banqueting- 
tables,  and   compare   most  unfavorably  with  the  topes  of  Indian 
architecture, — the   senseless  reduplication   of  the   encircling   roofs 
painfully  suggesting  the  stuttering  repetition  of  one  syllable  in  the 
place  of   a  rational  architectural  language.     (Fig-  84.)     The   most 
celebrated  of  these  structures  is  the  porcelain  tower  of  Nankin, 


I54  CHINA. 

built    between    A.  D.    1412    and    1431,  which    reaches    the    height 
of  70  m. 

The  sculpture  and  painting  of  Eastern  Asia  was  of  a  similar  toy- 
like  character.  The  methods  of  workmanship  and  the  materials 
devoted  to  these  arts  can  be  fittingly  employed  only  in  works  of 
small  dimensions — sculpture  being  chiefly  represented  by  porcelain 
models ;  painting  by  lacquered  work  and  water-colors.  An  astound- 
ing technical  ability  is  recognizable  in  almost  all  instances,  but  for- 
mal beauty  and  the  higher  qualities  of  art  are  rare.  The  images, 
even  when  not  professedly  caricatures,  or  of  a  comical  nature,  sel- 
dom rise  above  the  character  of  graceful  and  pleasing  trifles.  More- 
over, in  the  great  majority  of  cases,  they  are  adapted  to  practical 
employment,  the  petty  nature  of  the  Chinese  delighting  especially 
in  the  careful  ornamentation  of  utensils.  An  elevated  and  monu- 
mental art  is  incompatible  with  such  aesthetic  limitations  and  with 
so  prosaic  a  turn  of  mind. 


Fig.  85. — Fafade  of  the  Alcazar,  Seville. 


MOHAMMEDAN   ART.* 

/"T"*HE  civilization  of  Asia  had  already  passed  through  the  phases 

-L     of  artistic  development  described  in  the  foregoing  chapters, 

when  the  inhabitants  of  the  Arabian  peninsula, — who  had  previous- 


*  Description  de  1'Egypte.  Etat  moderne.  Tom.  XVIII.  Paris,  s.  a. — A.  de  Laborde, 
Voyage  pittoresque  et  historique  d'Espagne.  Paris,  1812. — J.  J.  Hittorf  et  L.  Zanth,  Ar- 
chitecture moderne  de  la  Sicile.  Paris,  1826-1835.  —  P.  Coste,  Architecture  arabe  de 
Kaire.  Paris,  s.  a. — Girault  de  Prangey,  Monuments  arabes  et  moresques  de  Cordova,  Se- 
ville et  Grenade.  Paris,  1835-1839. — Choix  d'ornements  moresques  de  1'Alhambra  (A  con- 
tinuation of  the  preceding  work). — Essai  sur  1'architecture  des  Arabes  et  des  Mores  en 
Espagne,  en  Sicile  et  en  Barbaric.  Paris,  1841. — Monuments  arabes  d'Egypte,  de  Syrie  et 
d'Asie  Mineure.  Paris,  1846. — H.  Gaily  Knight,  Saracenic  and  Norman  Remains,  to  illus- 
trate "  The  Normans  in  Sicily."  London,  1840. — J.  Goury  and  Owen  Jones,  Plans,  Eleva- 
tions, Sections  and  Details  of  the  Alhambra.  Paris,  1842. — M.  de  Vogue,  Le  Temple  de 
Jerusalem.  Paris,  1864. — F.  v.  Schack,  Die  Poesie  und  Kunst  der  Araber  in  Spanien  und 
Sicilien.  Berlin,  1865. — Prisse  d'Avennes,  L'Art  Arabe  d'apres  les  monuments  de  Kaire. 
III.  Voll.  Paris,  1869.  II.  Ed. 


,56  MOHAMMEDAN   ART. 

ly  taken  no  part  in  the  great  historical  movements  of  antiquity,— 
came  forth  from  their  desert  homes  to  accomplish  their  high  mis- 
sion. This  was  the  third  invasion  of  barbarians  into  that  portion 
of  the  world  which  owed  its  civilization  to  antiquity.  It  was  des- 
tined to  be  more  important  than  the  first  migration  of  the  northern 
European  races,  which,  having  no  artistic  traditions  of  their  own, 
were  entirely  receptive  of  the  Graeco- Roman  culture;  and  more 
permanent  than  the  second  movement  of  Central  Asiatic  hordes, 
which  retreated  without  leaving  lasting  memorials  behind  them. 
The  early  followers  of  Mohammed  were  intellectually  superior  to 
the  races  of  the  second  migration,  and,  if  inferior  to  those  of  the 
first  in  this  respect,  had  at  least  the  advantage  of  possessing  a 
highly  important  religion  of  their  own,  which  assured  to  them  a 
more  peculiarly  national  culture  than  it  was  possible  for  the  Chris- 
tianized tribes  of  Northern  Europe  to  maintain  in  the  face  of  the 
antique  traditions  of  Rome.  It  is  hence  not  strange  that  the  civili- 
zation of  the  Moslems  more  rapidly  attained  to  an  independent 
development  than  did  that  of  the  Germanic  races. 

Unfortunately,  it  is  not  possible  to  form  any  adequate  idea  of 
the  artistic  achievements  of  the  Arabian  people  in  the  epoch  before 
Mohammed.  With  the  exception  of  poetry,  which  is  less  influ- 
enced by  geographical  limitations,  the  arts  of  this  barren  and  inac- 
cessible land  appear  to  have  attained  but  slight  independent  devel- 
opment, and  to  have  profited  but  little  by  the  more  advanced  civ- 
ilization of  neighboring  countries.  The  geogiaphical  character  of 
their  native  country  did  not  incline  these  "Children  of  the  Wind" 
to  settle  in  permanent  habitations.  Mounted  upon  noble  horses, 
they  drove  their  herds  from  one  pasturing  ground  to  another,  carry- 
ing upon  the  backs  of  camels  all  their  household  possessions,— the 
amount  of  which  was  limited  to  the  capacity  of  this  beast  of  burden, 
in  order  not  to  interfere  with  the  mobility  of  the  horde.  Their 
building  was  consequently  restricted  to  hurdles  and  tents,  their 
works  of  carving  and  colored  design  to  weapons  and  to  woven 
fabrics. 

This  nomadic  character  was  retained  in  the  few  cases  of  perma- 
nent settlements.  Even  in  the  towns  the  sacred  places  remained 
little  more  than  simple  enclosures,  and  none  of  the  artistic  produc- 


ARCHITECTURE.  157 

tions  attained  to  a  monumental  importance.  The  finer  utensils,  and 
all  those  articles  which  can  be  manufactured  only  by  a  regular  and 
settled  industry,  were  without  doubt  imported  from  neighboring 
countries,  in  exchange  for  the  raw  materials  carried  by  the  advent- 
urous inhabitants  of  the  desert  to  the  ports  of  Arabia  and  thence  to 
Syria,  Persia,  and  Egypt.  It  will  be  remembered  that  it  was  during 
commercial  journeys  into  Syria  that  Mohammed  conceived  those 
ideas  which  were  destined  to  bring  so  great  a  part  of  the  world 
under  the  sway  of  his  countrymen.  The  indigenous  arts  seem  to 
have  been  limited  to  weaving  and  tapestry.  Seated  upon  the  backs 
of  swaying  dromedaries,  during  the  long  journeys  of  the  migratory 
tribes,  the  women  spun  the  fine  threads  of  wool,  and  during  the 
halts  of  the  caravans  at  noonday  and  evening,  wove  and  embroid- 
ered the  carpets  and  garments  with  all  that  wonderful  imaginative- 
ness of  design  which  appears  in  the  romances  and  epic  poems  of 
the  Arabian  story-tellers.  This  textile  industry  was  transferred  in 
later  times  to  the  provinces  of  Shusistan  and  Paris  in  Southern 
Persia,  where  it  was  developed  in  the  so-called  Susandshird,  a  nee- 
dle-work upon  plain  ground,  closely  related  to  the  high-warp  tapes- 
try (hautelisse)  of  France.*  This  bright  play  of  woven  threads 
forms  the  basis  of  Arabian  art.  The  tents  of  the  sheiks  and  the 
hangings  of  the  sacred  Caaba,  at  Mecca,  must  have  presented  the 
characteristic  forms  of  Arabian  decoration  long  before  these  were 
united  to  an  architectural  structure.  This  decoration  of  textile 
derivation  is  the  only  characteristic  which  the  architecture  of  the 
Arabians  has  preserved  unaltered  in  all  those  parts  of  the  three 
continents  then  known  which  were  conquered  and  civilized  by 
them. 

A  conquering  people  easily  transfers  to  the  subjugated  country 
its  language  and  its  customs,  its  poetry  and  science,  its  industry 
and  even  its  sculpture, — but  rarely  its  architecture.  The  aboriginal 
methods  of  construction  frequently  predominate  even  in  those  in- 
stances where  the  invaders  brought  with  them  a  decidedly  superior 
style  of  building,  as  was  the  case  in  Egypt  under  the  Hellenistic 

*  J.  Karabecek,  Die  persische  Nadelmalerei  Susandschird.      Ein  Beitrag  zur  Entwick- 
lungsgeschichte  der  Tapisserie  de  haute  lisse.     Leipzig,  1881. 


j-g  MOHAMMEDAN   ART. 

Ptolemies.  If  the  conquerors  be  without  an  independent  and  fully 
developed  architecture,  it  is  almost  unavoidable  that  they  should 
adopt  the  forms  previously  existing  in  the  country  which  they  have 
occupied.  The  new  inhabitants  may,  however,  modify  the  general 
plan,  and  may  introduce  a  foreign  character,  illustrative  of  their 
former  artistic  conceptions,  betraying,  it  may  be,  their  lack  of  ex- 
perience or  of  ability  for  similar  constructions.  They  generally 
base  their  ornamentation  upon  national  traditions,  derived  from 
other  branches  of  artistic  workmanship,  —  the  decorations  most 
clearly  speaking  the  language  of  the  invaders.  It  is  only  after  a 
certain  period  of  experiments  that  a  decided  compromise  between 
the  aboriginal  and  the  imported  elements  is  effected,  and  that  a 
peculiar  style  is  determined,  differing  considerably  in  the  various 
districts  occupied  by  the  conquering  people. 

It  was  thus  with  the  Arabians.  In  the  short  period  of  one  hun- 
dred years  after  the  fall  of  the  last  of  the  Sassanidae  (Yezdigird  III., 
A.D.  641),  the  Moslems  had  conquered  not  only  all  the  countries 
bordering  Arabia,  but  almost  all  the  civilized  lands  of  that  epoch, 
from  the  Ganges  to  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar, — the  most  enormous 
tract  over  which  a  victorious  race  has  ever  carried  its  arms.  Before 
the  eyes  of  these  fanatical  sons  of  the  desert  there  arose  the  archi- 
tectural monuments  of  the  antique  and  of  the  early  Christian  civili- 
zations,— they  had  but  to  choose  which  of  these  structures  were 
best  adapted  for  them  to  imitate  in  their  religious  edifices.  The 
temples  of  the  Egyptians,  Syrians,  Mesopotamians,  Indians,  Greeks, 
and  Romans,  could  not  serve  the  followers  of  Mohammed  as  mod- 
els, on  account  of  the  inadequate  accommodation  provided  by  their 
cramped  interiors.  And  the  styles  of  all  these  races  were,  during  the 
seventh  century  after  Christ,  in  more  or  less  advanced  stages  of 
debasement.  Furthermore,  the  followers  of  Mohammed  abhorred 
every  taint  of  idolatry,  and  consequently  rejected  the  architectural 
methods  employed  by  these  religions.  The  position  of  the  Koran 
in  regard  to  Judaism  and  Christianity  was  entirely  different.  The 
Christian  buildings  especially  were  more  nearly  adapted  to  the 
conceptions  and  the  rites  of  the  Mohammedans,  and  presented 
themselves  the  more  directly  as  models,  inasmuch  as  the  greater 
part  of  the  countries  at  first  invaded  by  the  Moslems  had  been 


ARCHITECTURE.  159 

Christianized, — namely,  the  southern  lands  of  the  eastern  Roman 
Empire,  the  northern  coast  of  Africa,  the  islands  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean, etc.  The  early  Christian  and  Byzantine  churches  were 
more  frequently  remodelled  than  destroyed  by  the  Arabs,  this 
adaptation  being  continued  until  the  invaders  had  prepared  them- 
selves for  independent  architectural  efforts  and  the  development 
of  a  peculiar  style. 

If  we  may  judge  from  the  condition  of  Syria,  the  Mohammedan 
occupation  was  at  first  characterized  by  great  toleration.  The 
severe  Omar  even  permitted  the  Christians  of  Damascus  to  hold 
religious  services  in  the  basilica  of  St.  John,  which  had  been  trans- 
formed into  a  mosque,  the  eastern  part  of  the  building  becoming 
Mohammedan,  the  western  remaining  Christian.  This  remarkable 
state  of  things  continued  for  seventy  years.  More  important  were 
the  alterations  and  imitations  of  Christian  buildings  which  early 
appear  in  Syria.  The  seven-aisled  mosque  El-Aksa  in  Jerusalem, 
probably  begun  by  Omar,  A.D.  638,  and  completed  by  Abd-el-Malek, 
692,  was,  without  doubt,  formed  by  the  rebuilding  of  a  basilica,  per- 
haps of  the  church  of  St.  Mary,  erected  by  Justinian.  The  cele- 
brated Kubbet-es-Sachra  (Mosque  of  the  Rock),  on  the  site  of  the 
altar  for  burnt  offerings  of  Solomon's  Temple,  is  so  closely  related 
in  plan,  construction,  and  details  to  the  cupola  churches  of  the 
earlier  Byzantine  style  that  it  has  even  been  asserted  that  this 
building  was  a  Christian  church  re-arranged  for  the  purposes  of  Mo- 
hammedan rites.  Modern  investigations,  however,  make  it  more 
probable  that  it  was  entirely  built  under  Abd-el-Malek,  A.D.  688, 
but  by  Byzantine  architects  and  masons.  (Fig.  86.)  It  was  quite 
natural  that  the  caliphs  and  their  emirs  should  employ  architects  of 
the  eastern  empire,  practising  the  Byzantine  style,  in  the  .first  Chris- 
tian countries  which  they  had  conquered,  and  this  is,  moreover, 
proved  to  have  been  the  case  by  repeated  accounts  of  the  caliphs 
inviting  architects  even  from  the  court  of  the  Byzantine  emperors. 
Such  an  interchange  is  not  surprising  in  view  of  the  ready  recogni- 
tion of  the  earlier  civilization  in  many  other  ways.  The  adminis- 
trative accounts  of  the  empire  of  the  caliphs,  for  instance,  were 
tirely  in  the  hands  of  Christian  Greeks,  while  the  masterpieces 
f  Greek  literature,  early  translated  into  Arabic,  were  thoroughly 


i6o 


MOHAMMEDAN   ART. 


studied  in  the  schools  of  Bagdad,  Cairo,  and  Cordova,  at  a  time 
when  they  were  almost  unknown  in  the  lands  not  occupied  by 
the  Saracens. 


Fig.  86.— Plan  and  Section  of  the  Kubbet-es-Sachra  (Mosque  of  the  Rock),  Jerusalem. 

The  Arabian  conquerors  attained  to  a  greater  independence  in 
Egypt  This  country  was  first  invaded  from  Syria  by  Amru,  one 

Omar's  generals,  at  a  time  subsequent  to  the  occupation  of 
Persia.  But  Egypt  had  unquestionably  contributed  to  the  first 


ARCHITECTURE.  l6l 

development  of  Arabian  culture :  its  influence  was  more  easily  in- 
troduced across  fhe  Red  Sea,  from  Assouan  and  Edfu  to  Mecca 
and  Medina,  than  was  that  of  Syria  through  the  trackless  deserts 
of  the  North.  As  early  as  the  times  of  the  exodus  the  civilization 
of  Egypt  was  introduced  by  nomadic  tribes  into  Northern  Arabia. 
The  Caaba  of  Mecca,  antedating  the  age  of  Mohammed,  probably 
owed  its  arrangement  to  some  similar  transferrence  of  Egyptian 
ideas, — perhaps  indirectly,  as  we  are  led  to  believe  from  the  re- 
semblance of  this  ancient  national  fane  of  the  Arabians  to  the 
Mosaic  tabernacle,  which  was  a  repetition,  in  movable  tents,  of  the 
Egyptian  temple.*  It  is  true  that  the  only  information  we  have 
concerning  the  primitive  form  of  the  Caaba  is  that  it  was  a  cubical 
cella,  similar  to  the  Holy  of  Holies  of  the  Tabernacle  of  Moses  and 
of  the  Temple  of  Solomon,  and  stood,  like  them,  within  an  enclosed 
court.  If  the  enclosure  of  the  Caaba  consisted  of  a  covered  colon- 
nade with  wooden  supports  and  open  towards  the  court,  like  that  of 
the  Mosque  of  Mohammed  in  Medina,  it  certainly  must  have  resem- 
bled the  peristyle  boundaries  of  the  Egyptian  temple  area  even 
more  closely  than  did  the  fence  of  poles  and  hangings  surrounding 
the  Mosaic  tabernacle. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  influence  of  Egypt  upon  the  prim- 
itive civilization  of  Arabia,  it  is  certain  that  the  Moslems  made  no 
attempt  to  form  their  architecture  after  the  models  presented  by 
the  structures  of  the  Pharaohs,  as  they  had  done  after  those  of  the 
Byzantines.  The  stupendous  monuments  which  they  saw  upon  the 
banks  of  the  Nile  were  far  removed  from  Mohammedan  ideals. 
Their  abhorrence  of  the  idolatry  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  must  of 
itself  have  prevented  them,  even  as  it  had  the  Christian  builders  of 
the  first  centuries,  from  attempting  to  imitate  these  works.  The 
influence  of  the  Egyptian  temples  was  thus  limited  to  the  en- 
closure of  the  court,  which  was  transformed  from  the  simple  wall 
surrounding  the  primitive  Arabian  fane  to  a  monumental  peristyle 
of  considerable  dimensions. 

The  colonnades  surrounding  the  mosques  were,  in  the  earliest 
works  of  the  Moslems,  even  in  Egypt,  formed  almost  exclusively  of 

*  "  History  of  Ancient  Art,"  by  Dr.  Franz  von  Reber,  p.  143,  etc. 
II 


^2  MOHAMMEDAN  ART. 

classic,  and  particularly  Corinthian,  columns,  Byzantine  types  being 
rare.  The  shafts  and  capitals  were  frequently  taken  from  Roman 
or  early  Christian  buildings,  or  were  directly  imitated  from  such 
models.  The  classic  entablature,  on  the  contrary,  never  appears, 
having  been  given  up  almost  entirely  by  the  early  Christian  build- 
ers. The  archivolts  present  from  the  first  a  novel  appearance,  be- 
ing either  pointed  or  horseshoe-shaped. 

These  forms  of  the  arch,  which  are  directly  characteristic  of 
Arabian  architecture,  did  not  originate  in  Egypt,  nor  do  we  find 
them  among  the  decorative  details  brought  by  the  Moslems  from 
their  Arabian  home.  Both  are,  however,  to  be  traced,  during  the 
ages  preceding  the  invasion  of  the  Moslems,  in  the  countries  first 
occupied  by  them, — namely,  in  Mesopotamia  and  Persia :  the  pointed 
arch  appearing  in  the  Assyrian  epoch,  the  horseshoe  under  the 
Sassanidae.  In  the  chapter  treating  of  the  art  of  the  Sassanians 
the  development  of  the  horseshoe  arch  was  described,  and  it  was 
shown  that  this  form  was  not  determined  by  static  considerations. 
The  pointed  arch  was  of  greater  constructive  importance,  but  its 
employment  by  the  Arabians  was  due  less  to  a  perception  of  the 
material  advantages  offered  by  it,  than  to  a  preference  for  lighter 
and  more  graceful  proportions  than  those  of  the  Byzantine  round 
arch.  The  desire  to  decrease  the  weight  of  the  wall  may  have 
somewhat  favored  the  introduction  of  the  pointed  arch,  but  the 
consideration  which  chiefly  led  to  its  adoption  was  the  greater 
height  of  opening  afforded  by  it,  and  the  consequent  airiness  and 
lightness  of  the  structure.  To  this  is  to  be  added  the  preference 
of  the  adventurous  and  fanciful  Moslems  for  uncommon  forms,  and 
perhaps  for  the  similarity  of  the  pointed  and  the  horseshoe  arch  to 
the  looped-up  curtains  or  the  round-cut  openings  of  the  tent.  The 
combination  of  both  varieties,  the  pointed  horseshoe  arch,  which 
became  common  in  later  times,  particularly  resembles  such  hang- 
ings, as  does  also  the  Persian  keel-shaped  arch.  The  true  impor- 
tance of  these  forms  was  not  yet  understood,  the  consequential 
development  of  the  pointed  arch  into  the  pointed  vault  being  re- 
served for  later  times.  In  the  architecture  of  the  Moslems  the 
archivolts  were  only  employed  to  support  a  light  ceiling  of  wood, 
upper  stories  not  appearing  at  first  in  the  more  important  edifices. 


ARCHITECTURE.  ^3 

On  the  other  hand,  it  was  probably  due  to  ancient  Egyptian 
models,  rather  than  to  the  traditions  of  Arabian  design,  that  in 
Egypt  the  mosques  were  not  placed  in  the  exact  centre  of  the 
square  enclosure,  as  would  seem  the  more  natural  arrangement. 
It  was  perhaps  in  imitation  of  the  ancient  Christian  atrium  that 
the  middle  of  the  court  was  chosen  as  the.  position  of  the  fountain 
used  for  the  ablutions  prescribed  by  Mohammedan  rites,  while  the 
covered  space  in  which  the  worshippers  assembled  for  prayer  adjoined 
one  of  the  four  sides  of 
the  enclosure  (compare 


iS-  87),  —  much  in  the 
same  manner  as  the 
hypostyle  hall  was  con- 
nected with  the  peri- 
style court  of  the  Egyp- 
tian temple.  But,  in 
contrast  to  both  the 
ancient  Egyptian  and 
early  Christian  courts, 
the  side  of  the  en- 
closure formed  by  the 
hall  was  not  empha- 
sized upon  the  interior 
faQade.  The  ranges  of 
columns  were  extend- 
ed without  alteration 
around  all  four  sides  of 

the  court,  which  thus  differed  from  the  Christian  atrium  in  not 
having  the  character  of  a  vestibule.  The  area  required  for  the 
hall,  or  mihrab,  was  provided  in  the  simplest  possible  manner  by 
multiplying  the  colonnades  on  the  side  of  the  court  chosen  for 
the  purpose.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  in  these  edifices  the  chief 
axis  of  the  mihrab  was  never  distinguished  by  greater  dimensions, 
as  was  the  clerestory  of  the  Christian  basilicas,  or  the  middle 
aisle  of  increased  height  introduced  into  the  hypostyle  hall  of 
the  more  important  Egyptian  temples,  such,  for  instance,  as  that 
at  Karnak.  This  is  particularly  remarkable,  as  the  Moslems,  who 


Fig.  87. — Plan  of  the  Mosque  of  Amru,  Cairo. 


,64  MOHAMMEDAN   ART. 

worship  with  their  faces  towards  Mecca,  were  even  more  strict- 
ly obliged  than  were  the  Pagans  or  the  Christians  to  turn  in  a 
given  direction  while  engaged  in  prayer,  and  as  the  orientation 
of  sacred  edifices  to  the  cardinal  points  of  the  compass  had  been 
previously  observed  in  almost  all  the  temples  and  churches  of  the 
East.  But  the  Arabians,  while  maintaining  the  general  arrange- 
ment of  their  plan,  paid  little  attention  to  the  orientation  of  the 
entire  building,  indicating  the  direction  in  which  the  worshippers 
were  to  turn  for  prayer  by  the  introduction  of  a  special  chapel 
(kiblah),  which  consequently  stood  in  no  organic  connection  with 
the  main  lines  of  the  edifice,  often  adjoining  some  unimportant 
corner  of  the  mihrab.  The  position  of  the  pulpit  (mimbar),  the 
seat  of  the  caliph  or  of  his  representative  (maksura),  and  the  tombs 
of  the  founders  or  patrons  of  the  mosque,  were  similarly  introduced 
without  reference  to  the  general  plan.  These  points  were  fre- 
quently indicated  upon  the  exterior  by  cupolas,  generally  of  horse- 
shoe outline,  which  rose  unsymmetrically  above  the  flat  ceiling  of 
the  colonnades,  and  being  constructed  of  light  carpentry  did  not 
generally  require  additional  supports  in  the  interior.  The  stand- 
point for  the  muezzin,  who  called  the  faithful  to  prayer,  was  pro- 
vided by  the  tall  minarets,  which  were  nothing  else  than  narrow 
spiral  staircases  enclosed  by  a  wall  and  terminated  by  a  small  encir- 
cling gallery.  The  position  of  these  towers  was  determined  solely 
by  topographical  considerations  and  the  desire  to  render  the  voice 
of  the  muezzin  audible  to  the  greatest  possible  number  of  the  in- 
habitants. The  outer  walls  of  the  older  mosques  were  as  bare  as 
those  of  a  fortress,  their  only  ornamentation  being  the  entrance  por- 
tals; these  were  more  frequently  arranged  in  the  corners  than  in 
the  axes  of  the  square  court. 

The  structure  was  entirely  without  an  organic  architectural 
memberment;  but  this  gave  the  greater  scope  to  a  graceful  and 
fantastic  ornamentation.  As  the  Moslem  carries  his  prayer-carpet 
with  him  to  the  mosque,  even  so  did  the  Mohammedan  artist  cover 
the  floors,  the  walls,  and  even  the  gratings  of  the  windows,  with 
patterns  similar  in  character  to  those  of  tapestry.  This  style  of 
decoration,  which  has  with  good  reason  been  called  arabesque,  gives 
unity  and  a  national  character  to  an  architectural  framework  bor- 


ARCHITECTURE.  165 

rowed  from  various  quarters.  The  arabesques  are  as  unlimited  and 
as  continuous  as  the  works  of  the  weaver,  hence  they  permit  no  pro- 
jections of  the  wall  and  no  architectural  members  similar  to  cor- 
nices. The  walls  most  suitable  for  the  Mohammedan  decorator 
are  uninterrupted  like  the  floors ;  they  are  similarly  treated,  being 
covered  with  flat  textile  patterns  and  at  most  framed  in  by  slight 
ornamental  borders.  In  cases  where  the  architectural  structure 
rendered  such  a  treatment  impossible, — as  in  the  case  of  spandrels 
or  cupolas, — the  ornamentation,  while  retaining  the  motives  derived 
from  embroidery  and  weaving,  was  transformed  to  a  delicate  relief, 
which  in  appearance  holds  a  middle  place  between  a  fine  fretwork 
and  a  drapery  of  lace.  This,  like  the  decorations  of  perfectly  plain 
surfaces,  was  executed  on  a  stucco  revetment.  The  Arabian  stalac- 
tite vault  is  a  striking  instance  of  the  inability  of  Mohammedan 
architecture  to  develop  an  organic  decoration  from  the  constructive 
principles  employed.  The  diminutive  members  of  which  they  are 
composed  repeat  the  same  forms  from  the  impost  to  the  summit 
of  the  vault  with  the  same  multiplicity  and  ingenuity  of  arrange- 
ment observable  in  the  surface  ornamentation  of  the  walls.  These 
stalactites  first  appear  upon  the  pendentives,  and  continue  to  be 
most  frequently  employed  in  that  position.  The  constructive  prin- 
ciple involved  is  that  of  the  false  vault,  formed  by  repeated  hori- 
zontal projections. 

In  these  decorations  the  play  of  complicated  designs  and  of 
bright  colors  is  inimitable,  the  clear  outlines  of  the  flat  stucco  re- 
liefs increasing  the  effects  of  light.  The  principle  of  this  treatment 
of  the  wall  is  the  same  as  that  recognizable  in  antiquity  among 
several  Oriental  races,  notably  among  the  Phrygians  ;  but  the  taste 
and  technical  ability  of  the  Arabians  produced  a  result  far  superior 
to  the  textile  works,  and  to  the  architectural  ornamentations  imi- 
tated therefrom,  which  are  to  be  observed  among  any  other  people. 
This  is  explicable  by  the  concentration  of  the  artistic  industry  of 
the  nation  for  centuries  upon  this  one  branch,  the  weaving  and 
embroidering  of  tapestries  being  the  only  work  that  can  be  prac- 
tised during  continual  journeyings,  and  consequently  that  which 
has  always  been  the  most  natural  to  nomadic  races.  While  the 
sheep,  goats,  and  camels  of  the  tribe  provide  the  materials  for  this 


i66 


MOHAMMEDAN   ART. 


manufacture,  the  occupation  of  weaving  and  embroidery  is  the 
greatest  resource  to  the  women  while  in  the  desert ;  moreover,  both 
the  tent  and  the  naked  earth  upon  which  it  stands  require  carpets 
and  hangings  in  place  of  the  wood  and  stone  employed  by  the 
inhabitants  of  fixed  abodes.  The  patterns  of  this  textile  work 
were  transferred  to  the  decoration  of  mural  surfaces  as  soon  as  the 
movable  tent  of  the  desert  was  exchanged  for  settled  dwellings  and 
for  monumental  edifices. 


Fig.  88.— Interior  of  the  Mosque  of  Amru,  in  Cairo. 

The  Mosque  of  Amru,  in  Cairo  (Figs.  87  and  88),  founded  in  the 
year  643,— consequently  only  twenty-one  years  after  the  Hegira,— 
is  the  oldest  known  architectural  creation  of  the  Arabians  beyond 
the  limits  of  their  native  country.  In  it  the  arrangement  before 
described  appears  fully  determined.  The  building  is  nearly  square, 
and  presents  upon  the  exterior  an  almost  entirely  bare  wall.  The 
colonnade  on  the  side  of  the  court  towards  the  entrance  is  formed 


ARCHITECTURE.  167 

by  one  range  of  columns,  that  at  the  right  by  three,  at  the  left  by 
four,  while  that  on  the  side  opposite  the  entrance,  the  mihrab,  is 
extended  to  six  ranges.  All  these  columns  appear  to  have  been 
taken  from  Roman  and  Byzantine  buildings.  The  majority  of  the 
capitals  are  of  the  Corinthian  order.  To  equalize  their  height  they 
are  surmounted  by  piers  of  masonry,  of  the  same  plan  as  the  aba- 
cus, which  are  connected  with  the  neighboring  supports  by  means 
of  wooden  beams.  From  these  piers  rise  horseshoe  arches  some- 
what pointed  at  the  summit,  the  impost  being  marked  by  a  very 
slight  projection.  Throughout  the  building  the  archivolts  run  in 
one  direction ;  the  horizontal  ceiling  of  wood  is  placed  upon  them 
without  the  intervention  of  decorative  members  of  any  kind.  The 
centre  of  the  open  court  is  occupied  by  a  fountain,  surrounded  by 
eight  columns  which  uphold  an  octagonal  cupola.  The  remaining 
details  seem  to  have  conformed  to  the  description  given  above, 
but  few  traces  of  the  colored  decoration  of  the  walls  are  now 
recognizable. 

The  details  of  the  Mosque  of  Ibn-Tulun  in  Cairo  (Fig.  89), 
which  was  built  in  the  year  879,  have  remained  in  a  better  state  of 
preservation.  Its  arcades  are  fivefold  in  the  mihrab  and  threefold 
upon  the  other  sides  of  the  court.  The  arches  are  supported  upon 
piers,  those  standing  at  the  corners  being  provided  with  peculiar 
engaged  columns,  the  plan  of  which  is  three-quarters  round.  The 
archivolts  are  of  horseshoe  shape,  slightly  curved  inward  and 
sharply  pointed  at  the  summit ;  their  soffits  are  richly  decorated 
with  arabesques,  and  the  outer  sides  of  the  curves  have  fringe-like 
borders.  The  fountain,  in  the  middle  of  the  court,  is  erected  upon 
a  square  foundation,  the  superstructure  becoming  octagonal  by  the 
chamfering  of  the  corners,  while  the  pointed  cupola  is  of  circular 
plan.  The  minaret,  though  but  little  ornamented,  is  of  imposing 
proportions;  it  stands  at  one  corner  of  the  court,  rising  from  a 
massive  square  base  which  is  diminished  in  accordance  with  the 
ascending  lines  of  the  spiral  staircase  to  an  exceedingly  tall  and 
narrow  tower. 

The  want  of  conformity  between  these  two  most  ancient 
mosques  of  Cairo  is  very  striking,  and  an  arrangement  of  plan  quite 
independent  of  previous  designs  of  the  class  appears  also  in  the 


1 68 


MOHAMMEDAN   ART. 


mosques  of  El-Daher  and  El-Azhar,  dating  to  the  tenth  century,  in 
that  of  El-Hakim,  of  the  eleventh,  and  in  the  mosques  of  Barkuk 
and  Salaheddin  Yussuf,  of  the  twelfth  century.  The  later  exam- 
ples, although  each  offering  new  solutions  of  the  architectural  prob- 
lem, do  not  display  important  constructive  improvements,  and  no 
one  form  of  columns  or  archivolts  decidedly  predominates.  In  the 
curves  of  the  arches  some  Occidental  reminiscences  are  occasionally 
recognizable,  these  having,  without  doubt,  been  introduced  by  the 
Crusaders.  The  most  important  monument  erected  in  Egypt  by 


Fig.  89.— View  of  the  Mosque  of  Ibn-Tulun,  in  Cairo. 

the  Arabs  is  certainly  the  Mosque  of  Hassan,  A.  D.  1356,  in  which 
the  European  influences  are  even  more  apparent  than  in  the 
Mosque  of  Yussuf.  The  court,  which  in  the  earlier  examples  was 
so  extensive,  is  here  contracted  to  a  small  opening  for  admitting 
light,  situated  at  the  intersection  of  two  main  aisles.  The  transepts 
are  covered  with  high  barrel  vaults  of  pointed  profile,  supported 
upon  low  walls,  this  construction  being  of  a  massive  and  heavy 
character  which  is  not  elsewhere  met  with  in  the  works  of  Arabian 
architecture.  The  four  quadrangular  corner  areas,  outside  of  the 


ARCHITECTURE.  169 

main  aisles,  are  occupied  by  small  chambers,  so  as  to  enclose  the 
entire  plan  in  an  oblong, — this  being  as  regular  as  the  neighboring 
streets,  which  were  not  quite  parallel,  would  permit.  A  square 
mausoleum,  in  which  the  founder  of  the  mosque  was  buried,  ad- 
joined the  complex.  This  structure  was  surmounted  by  an  im- 
mense cupola,  the  pendentives  of  which  are  formed  by  stalactite 
vaults.  The  pointed  dome  was  only  provided  with  windows  in  the 
drum,  being  otherwise  perfectly  plain,  like  the  vaults  of  the  main 
aisles.  If  the  dome  had  been  placed  above  the  intersection,  so  as 
to  cover  the  court,  instead  of  rising  above  a  prolongation  of  one  of 
the  aisles,  the  plan  would  have  presented  a  striking  similarity  to 
the  edifices  of  the  Romanic  epoch,  especially  to  those  of  South- 
western France,  as  well  as  to  some  of  the  structures  of  less  archi- 
tectural importance  which  had  appeared  among  the  Persians  under 
the  Sassanidas.  The  double  towers  upon  the  main  front,  rising  at 
either  side  of  the  mausoleum,  also  remind  us  of  the  Romanic  bel- 
fries. On  the  other  hand  the  magnificent  portal,  with  its  elaborate 
surface  decoration  derived  from  textile  patterns,  and  with  its  pro- 
jecting cornices,  clearly  displays  the  artistic  traditions  of  Asia. 

The  Mosque  of  El-Moyed  in  Cairo,  which  was  founded  in  the 
year  1415,  is  distinguished  by  a  similar  portal,  and  by  an'  effective 
arrangement  of  different  colored  ashlar  stones  in  horizontal  courses. 
In  this  building  recourse  is  again  had  to  the  original  arrangement 
of  an  extensive  court  surrounded  by  colonnades.  As  the  stock  of 
antique  columns  was  by  this  time  not  sufficient  to  supply  the  de- 
mand, a  new  kind  of  support  was  introduced,  which,  forming  a 
compromise  between  the  column  and  the  shaft,  is  exceedingly  awk- 
ward in  appearance.  Indeed  the  entire  structure,  notwithstanding 
the  lavish  gildings  of  its  ceiling,  is  one  of  the  most  unsuccessful 
efforts  of  its  time.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Mosque  of  Kait-Bey  in 
Cairo,  built  about  1483,  the  exterior  of  which  much  resembles  that 
of  the  Mosque  of  El-Moyed,  is  remarkable  for  a  magnificent  orria- 
mentation  of  the  most  beautiful  design,  rendering  this  compara- 
tively small  building,  both  within  and  without,  one  of  the  gems 
of  Mohammedan  architecture  in  Egypt.  (Fig.  90.)  The  minaret 
md  the  mausoleum  of  the  founder,  which  stand  in  connection  with 
the  edifice,  are  of  particularly  graceful  and  pleasing  forms. 


MOHAMMEDAN   ART. 


There  are  but  few  remains  of  the  domestic  and  civic  architecture 
of  the  Mohammedans  in  Egypt  which  can  with  certainty  be  referred 
to  the  earliest  epoch.  But  it  may  be  assumed  that 
the  style  employed  in  structures  of  this  class,  after 
having  been  once  fully  developed,  was  but  little 
altered  during  later  centuries, — so  that  the  general 
character  of  the  dwellings  and  public  buildings  of 
the  first  centuries  after  the  occupation  may  perhaps 
be  understood  from  a  study  of  the  examples  of 
this  kind  still  erected  in  the  country  by  the  Moham- 
medans. The  exterior  of  the  private  house  is  plain 
and  uninviting.  The 
portal  is  in  some  cases 
richly  decorated,  but 
is  always  calculated 
to  offer  resistance  to 
forcible  intrusion.  In 
the  lower  story  the 
windows  are  small  and 
irregularly  disposed, 
but  abotfe  this  they 
are  wide  and  airy, 
being  supplied  with 
a  projecting  lattice- 
work, which  takes  the 
place  of  the  Italian 
balconies,  and  the 
oriel  windows  of  the 
north.  The  dwelling- 
rooms  do  not  open 
towards  the  narrow 
street,  but  towards 
a  large  inner  court, 
which  is  rendered  ex- 
tremely picturesque 
by  colonnades  and  fantastic  arcades,  by  pavements  of  colored  mar- 
bles or  of  glazed  tiles,  by  fountains  and  by  the  woven  hangings  of 


Fig.  90.— View  of  the  Mosque  of  Kait-Bey  in  Cairo. 


ARCHITECTURE.  171 

the  doors  and  windows.  A  dais  of  masonry  takes  the  place  of  fur- 
niture in  the  sleeping  and  living  rooms.  The  proportions  of  the 
plan  and  elevations  and  the  treatment  of  the  ceilings  give  to  all 
these  spaces,  and  particularly  to  the  baths,  a  most  pleasing  effect, 
which  is  heightened  by  an  elaborate  polychromatic  decoration. 

The  Arabians  have  always  retained  a  peculiar  veneration  for 
water.  Even  in  private  houses  the  surroundings  of  this  life-giving 
element  are  pre-eminently  adorned,  while  the  decorations  of  the 
public  fountains  are  often  magnificent.  This  is  the  case,  for  instance, 
with  the  fountain  known  as  that  of  Abderrahman,  and  with  that 
near  Souq  el  Asr,  both  in  Cairo.  Among  the  other  public  build- 
ings which  present  the  opportunity  for  monumental  treatment,  the 
khans  and  caravansaries  are  deserving  of  mention,  although  they 
seldom  attain  to  an  artistic  importance. 

We  are  not  able  to  say  in  what  measure  these  peculiarities,  de- 
veloped upon  Egyptian  soil,  were  derived  from  the  Arabian  root, 
inasmuch  as  all  the  earlier  Mohammedan  remains  of  Bagdad,  the 
more  ancient  seat  of  the  caliphs,  were  destroyed  entirely  during 
the  plundering  of  this  city  by  the  Mongolians,  between  the  years 
1 220  and  1405.  This  loss  is  the  more  to  be  regretted  as  Persia, 
the  first  country  conquered  by  the  Arabians,  must  have  been  the 
scene  of  the  earliest  development  of  Mohammedan  art, — and  as 
Bagdad  itself,  which  was  so  long  the  chief  centre  of  Islamism,  must 
have  exercised  a  decisive  influence  upon  all  the  other  countries  oc- 
cupied by  the  faithful.  We  cannot  pronounce  the  name  of  Haroun 
al  Raschid,  the  great  contemporary  of  Charlemagne,  without  bring- 
ing up  the  vision  of  a  culture  more  brilliant  and  more  magnificent 
than  that  of  any  contemporary  power.  The  fame  of  the  newly 
arisen  architecture  of  Bagdad  penetrated  even  beyond  Moham- 
medan lands:  Theophilus,  emperor  of  Byzantium,  A.D.  829  to  842, 
built  his  summer  palace  in  imitation  of  a  structure  standing  on  the 
banks  of  the  Tigris.  It  is  to  be  assumed  that  ancient  Persian, 
Sassanian,  and  northern  Indian  influences  determined  the  style 
which  appeared  in  the  empire  of  the  older  caliphs.  But  it  remains 
to  be  seen  whether  historical  and  archaeological  investigations  con- 
cerning the  few  remains  referable  to  the  first  Mohammedan  occupa- 
tion of  Persia  will  clearly  display  this  development. 


l-j2  MOHAMMEDAN   ART. 

The  architectural  activity  of  Mohammedan  Asia  was  removed, 
rather  than  diminished,  when,  towards  the  end  of  the  ninth  century, 
the  power  of  Bagdad  began  to  decline.  The  emancipation  of  Egypt 
on  the  one  side,  and  of  Bokhara  on  the  other,  which  took  place 
during  the  reign  of  Al  Motamed,  A.  D.  870  to  891,  did  not  mate- 
rially affect  the  national  civilization.  The  Samanian  caliphate  of 
Shiraz  was  maintained  but  little  more  than  a  century,  from  A.  D. 
932  to  1056,  and,  on  the  west  of  the  Indus,  the  dynasty  of  the 
Ghaznavides,  founded  by  Sabuktagin,  was 'of  not  much  longer  dura- 
tion, the  flourishing  city  of  Ghazni  having  been  destroyed  in  the 
year  1183.  An  extensive  and  most  fertile  field  was  opened  to  Mo- 
hammedan civilization  when  the  troops  of  Shahab-ud-Din,  of  the 
race  of  Ghori,  invaded  India  in  the  year  1190,  the  entire  peninsula 
being  subjugated  by  the  founders  of  the  Turkoman  dynasty  of 
Pathan  within  half  a  century  after  the  capture  of  Delhi  and  Canouge, 
in  A.  D.  1193  and  1194. 

The  buildings  of  Ghazni  referable  to  the  caliph  Mahmud,  A.  D. 
977  to  1030,  were  more  closely  related  to  the  contemporaneous 
mosques  of  Cairo  than  to  the  Buddhist  and  Jaina  temples  of  India, 
but  in  the  heart  of  India  the  native  models  were  almost  directly 
imitated  by  the  Moslem  invaders  during  the  first  centuries.  The 
extreme  variety  of  ancient  Indian  architecture  resulted  in  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  great  number  of  corresponding  Mohammedan  styles; 
Fergusson  enumerates  not  less  than  thirteen  of  these,  some  of  which 
existed  at  the  same  time,  in  various  districts  of  the  country,  while 
others  succeeded  one  another  from  age  to  age.  The  original  Indian 
forms,  particularly  of  columns  and  piers,  and  their  ornamental  de- 
tails, appear  in  almost  all  these  styles,  while  the  arrangement  of 
the  plan  was  more  peculiarly  Arabian. 

The  dynasty  of  Pathan  at  once  began  to  build,  with  all  that  ar- 
chitectural ability  and  delight  in  monumental  creations  which  have 
always  been  characteristic  of  the  Turanian  races,  and  with  a  talent 
for  arrangement  far  superior  to  that  of  the  Hindoos.  All  decorative 
details  were,  however,  still  left  in  the  trained  hands  of  the  subju- 
gated Indians,  the  patterns  being  directly  copied  from  the  structures 
of  the  Buddhists,  and  especially  of  the  Jainas,  in  the  same  way  as 
the  architects  of  the  early  Christian  basilicas  imitated  the  details  of 


ARCHITECTURE. 


173 


ancient  Roman  monuments.  The  oldest  mosque  in  India,  that  of 
Kutub  at  Old  Delhi,  A.  D.  1196  to  1235,  has  columns  of  the  same 
kind  as  those  of  the  Jaina  temple  Vimala  Sah  in  Mount  Abu.  The 
interior  of  the  Mosque  of  Canouge,  which  was  originally  a  temple 
of  the  Jainas,  displays  none  of  the  characteristics  of  Mohammedan 
design,  although  the  plan  has  been  transformed  to  an  arrangement 
resembling  that  of  the  Mosque  of  Amru  in  Cairo.  Reminiscences 
of  the  Indian  styles  appear  also  in  the  later  Mosque  of  Dhar,  near 
Mandu,  in  that  of  the  fort  at  Jaunpore,  and  in  some  mosques  at 
Ahmedabad  and  else- 
where. 

One  of  the  most 
striking  peculiarities 
of  these  edifices  is 
the  great  lack  of  con- 
structive ability  dis- 
played in  the  arches, 
notwithstanding  the 


Fig.  91. — Plan  of  the  Mosque  of  Ajmir. 


preference  for  point- 
ed and  keel -shaped 
portals  and  cupolas. 
The  keel-shaped  arch- 
es on  the  western 
side  of  the  Mosque 
of  Kutub,  as  well  as 
the  few  cupolas  of 
this  building,  are  ei- 
ther formed  entirely 

by  horizontal  courses  of  projecting  stones,  or  are  partly  built  in 
this  manner,  and  terminated  by  blocks  of  stone  leaned  together. 
Another  example  of  the  application  of  this  principle  of  the  false 
arch  is  noticeable  in  the  keel-shaped  archivolts  of  the  Mosque  of 
Ajmir,  built  between  A.  D.  1200  and  1230.  The  structure  enclosing 
the  court  of  this  building,  formed  by  a  great  number  of  columns, 
is  surmounted  by  no  less  than  thirty-two  monolithic  cupolas  (Fig. 
91).  The  shafts,  which  are  placed  at  a  right  angle,  support  a 
slab  lying  in  the  diagonal,  so  as  to  transform  the  plan  to  an  octa- 


,^4  MOHAMMEDAN   ART. 

gon,  which  readily  served  as  the  impost  of  the  small  circular  vault. 
This  arrangement  was  imitated  from  the  Jainas,  and  was  long  re- 
tained by  the  Mohammedan  architects  of  India.  These  two  mosques, 
decorated  in  the  Jaina  style,  are  among  the  most  elaborate  examples 
of  their  kind  ;  in  constructive  respects,  however,  they  are  not  im- 
portant. The  curious  Indian  minarets  of  the  earlier  epoch  appear 
rather  as  memorial  columns,  after  the  manner  of  the  Lat  monu- 
ments, than  as  the  towers  of  mosques  intended  solely  to  provide  a 
standpoint  for  the  muezzin.  A  striking  instance  of  the  slight  con- 
structive significance  of  these  towers  is  given  by  the  celebrated  min- 
aret of  the  Mosque  of  Kutub  at  Delhi ;  rising  from  a  circular  plan 
of  15.5  m.  lower  diameter,  and  stepped  five  times  in  regular  diminu- 
tion, it  attains  to  a  total  height  of  seventy-three  metres.  The  five 
galleries,  supported  upon  cornices  formed  by  the  projection  of  the 
horizontal  courses,  are  as  insignificant  in  design  as  are  the  channel- 
lings  and  reedings  of  the  three  lower  divisions,  which  cause  them  to 
appear  like  a  bundle  of  shafts  and  pilasters.  A  higher  importance 
is  to  be  attached  to  the  ingenious  attempts  to  effect  the  transition 
from  a  square  substructure  to  an  octagon,  and  to  a  circular  impost 
for  a  cupola,  by  means  of  pointed-arched  pendentives,  projecting 
one  above  the  other,  as  they  appear  in  two  vaulted  edifices  near  the 
Mosque  of  Kutub  at  Delhi,  namely,  the  mausoleums  of  Altumsh, 
A.  D.  1235,  and  of  Ala  Ud-din  Khilji,  A.  D.  1310.  The  method  of 
forming  pendentives  by  means  of  small  pointed  arches  which,  pro- 
ceeding from  the  angles  of  the  square,  increase  in  number,  row  by 
row,  as  they  ascend,  is  not  known  to  have  been  introduced  into  any 
structure  more  ancient  than  a  mosque  of  Delhi  dating  to  the  four- 
teenth century.  In  principle  these  pendentives  were  related  to  the 
stalactite  vaults  of  Egypt  and  of  Spain. 

Little  by  little  the  Mohammedans  of  India  emancipated  them- 
selves from  the  soft  and  luxurious  influences  of  the  Hindoos, — the 
architectural  works  of  the  stern  Tugluck  Shah,  the  founder  of  New 
Delhi,  being  a  most  important  step  in  this  direction.  Jaina  col- 
umns and  piers  were  still  employed  in  the  new  style,  but  its  chief 
characteristics  are  extreme  simplicity  of  decoration  and  the  intro- 
duction of  more  thorough  and  monumental  constructive  methods. 
The  Mosque  of  Jaunpore,  where  Khoja  Jehan  declared  his  indepen- 


ARCHITECTURE. 


175 


dence  in  the  year  1397;  that  of  Ahmedabad,  founded  by  Ahmed 
Shah  in  1411;  that  of  Kalburgah,  built  between  1347  and  1435; 
and  of  Mandu,  as  well  as  the  enormous  mausoleums  at  Butwa,  dis- 
play more  and  more  important  dimensions,  while  discarding  the 
elaborate  decorations  derived  from  the  native  inhabitants.  An  im- 
portance rarely  met  with  in  the  West  is  assigned  to  the  kiblah,  by 
means  of  superimposed  colonnades  and  extensive  symmetrical  halls 
covered  by  cupolas,  the  effect  of  the  structure  being  heightened  by 
the  omission  of  the  court  upon  the  entrance  side.  In  some  instances 


Fig.  92. — Mosque  of  Kalburgah. 

the  entire  court  is  replaced  by  a  great  number  of  small  domes,  as  is 
the  case  in  the  Mosque  of  Kalburgah  (Fig.  92),  the  interior  of  which 
is  provided  with  a  hundred  supports  and  covered  by  seventy-six 
cupolas.  In  architectural  respects  the  greatest  importance  is  to  be 
attached  to  the  elaborate  and  tasteful  arrangement  of  the  penden- 
tives  of  the  chief  domes,  which,  however,  did  not  appear  before  the 
sixteenth  century.  The  pendentives  of  the  Mosque  of  Jumma  (Figs. 
93  and  94),  and  of  the  grave  of  Mahmud  at  Bijapur,  are  constructed 
upon  a  most  ingenious  principle,  and  are  particularly  interesting,  in- 
asmuch as  their  design  is  without  doubt  related  to  the  round-arched 


j.6  MOHAMMEDAN   ART. 

squinch  pendentives  of  Russia.  But  these  edifices  belong  to  a  later 
period  than  that  with  which  we  are  at  present  concerned,  as  do 
also  the  marvellous  constructions  of  the  empire  of  the  Great  Mogul, 
which  was  founded  in  the  year  1494  by  Baber,  a  lineal  descendant 
of  Tamerlane.  The  buildings  at  Gualior,  New  Delhi  (Jehan-Abad), 
Futtehpore  Sikri,  Allahabad,  Secundra,  Mehal,  Agra,  etc.,  are  all 
subsequent  to  the  Middle  Ages,  gome  of  them  being  as  recent  as  the 


Fig-  93- — Plan  of  the  Mosque  of  Jumma  at  Bijapur. 

eighteenth  century.  The  dynasty  of  Pathan  has  been  celebrated  for 
having  "built  like  giants  and  decorated  like  jewellers."  This  might 
be  said  with  equal  truth  of  the  Great  Moguls,  who  erected,  at  New 
Delhi  and  at  Agra,  mosques,  palaces,  and  mausoleums  of  the  most 
imposing  dimensions,  all  of  which  combined  a  harmonious  arrange- 
ment of  plan  and  an  intelligent  construction  with  a  fine  elaboration 
of  the  decorative  details  not  even  surpassed  by  the  works  of  the 
Moors  in  Spain.  The  influence  of  the  architecture  of  the  Moguls, 


ARCHITECTURE. 


177 


after  the  sixteenth  century,  upon  that  of  all  Mohammedan  Asia, 
and  even  that  of  Russia  and  Turkey  in  Europe,  was  quite  as  great 
as  the  influence  of  the  traditions  of  Byzantium  had  been  upon 
the  beginnings  of  Mohammedan  art.  On  the  other  hand,  the  pow- 
erful dynasty  of  Akbar  the  Great,  who  died  in  the  year  1605,  fully 
profited  by  the  advances  of  Occidental  civilization. 

The  most  western  districts  of  the  world  known  to  the  ancients  had 
been  subjugated  by  the  followers  of  the  prophet  even  before  Moham- 
medanism had  reached  its  eastern  limits,  the  banks  of  the  Ganges  and 
the  Brahmaputra.  The  western  movement  did  not  proceed  by  the 


Fig.  94. — Plan  and  Section  of  the  chief  Cupola  of  the  Mosque  of  Jumma,  at  Bijapur. 

most  natural  and  easy  channel,  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  which  had  been 
so  frequented  by  the  Phoenician  and  Greek  colonists  and  merchants, 
nd  was,  indeed,  the  centre  of  this  antique  civilized  world.  It  was  per- 
haps fortunate  for  Europe  that  the  people  of  the  desert  long  remain- 
ed incapable  of  sea  voyages  of  such  great  length.  They  chose  the  route 
through  the  Sahara,  whose  arid  wastes  were  familiar  to  the  Bedouins, 
subjugating  one  by  one  the  ancient  settlements  of  Northern  Africa. 
The  city  of  Kairvan,  near  Tunis,  was  the  most  important  creation 
of  the  conquerors  during  the  seventh  century,  soon  after  the  end  of 
which  they  had  reached  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar.  But  few  decades 
later  they  occupied  the  most  flourishing  provinces  of  Spain. 

12 


178  MOHAMMEDAN   ART. 

Abderrahman,  of  the  house  of  Moaviah,  previously  tributary  to  the 
Abassides,  established  in  Spain  an  independent  kingdom,  with  Cor- 
dova as  its  capital,  which  realm  was  nearly  equal  in  importance  to 
that  of  the  Caliph  Haroun  al  Raschid,  and  was  destined  to  flourish 
for  a  longer  period  than  the  Mesopotamian  empire.  The  Christian 
churches  were  at  first  employed  as  mosques,  the  Christians  being 
permitted,  with  the  same  toleration  as  in  Damascus,  to  practise  their 
rites  side  by  side  with  the  Mohammedans.  But  an  independent 
architectural  activity  soon  made  itself  felt,  and  gave  to  Cordova  an 
importance  equal  to  that  of  Bagdad,  Cairo,  or  Delhi.  As,  in  the 
architecture  of  the  latter  cities,  the  influence  of  the  monuments  of 
the  Persians,  the  Byzantines,  and  the  Jainas  was  plainly  recogniza- 
ble, so  also,  in  the  constructions  of  the  Moors  in  Spain,  the  columnar 
details  of  the  Roman  and  the  early  Christian  structures  were  com- 
bined with  the  traditions  brought  from  Egypt,  the  arches  being  al- 
most always  of  the  horseshoe  form. 

Abderrahman  himself  did  not  live  to  see  the  fulfilment  of  his 
proud  desire  to  erect  a  mosque  which  should  surpass  those  of  Da- 
mascus, Bagdad,  and  Jerusalem.  It  was  only  after  a  period  of  con- 
struction extending  over  more  than  two  hundred  years,  from  785  to 
1000,  that  the  Mosque  of  Cordova  attained  to  its  unequalled  dimen- 
sions and  magnificence.  The  arrangement  of  the  Arabian  court 
made  it  possible  to  extend  the  plan  by  various  additions,  until  the 
area  occupied  was  four  times  as  large  as  that  originally  projected. 
Three  distinct  extensions  are  recognizable.  At  first  that  part  of  the 
building  which  served  as  the  mihrab  was  enlarged  upon  the  south- 
ern side  by  colonnades,  and  terminated  by  an  imposing  row  of  chap- 
els. Subsequent  to  this,  eight  additional  aisles  were  added  upon 
the  east,  the  court  being  proportionately  increased  in  width.  And 
finally,  the  court  itself,  by  the  introduction  of  a  forest  of  columns, 
was  transformed  into  a  covered  hall,  this  being  provided,  in  its  turn, 
with  a  new  and  more  extensive  court  upon  the  north,  the  plan  thus 
occupying  an  enormous  rectangle,  180  m.  long  and  136  m.  broad 

(&g>  95)- 

By  these  alterations  the  position  of  the  longitudinal  axis  of  the 
building  was  changed,  so  that  the  chief  hall  was  no  longer  in  the 
centre  of  the  entire  structure.  In  most  of  the  monuments  of  Mo- 


ARCHITECTURE.  j^n 

hammedan  architecture  this  would  not  have  been  felt  as  a  disadvan- 
tage :  even  in  the  Egyptian  models  a  symmetrical  disposition  was 
never  strictly  observed,  and,  as  the  position  of  the  kiblah  was  only 
determined  by  the  direction  towards  Mecca,  it  seldom  stood  in  any 
connection  with  the  main  lines  of  the  enclosure.  In  the  case  of 
Cordova,  however,  the  main  axis  was  more  emphasized  than  it  had 
been  in  the  Egyptian  prototypes,  inasmuch  as  the  central  aisle, 
which  was,  moreover,  somewhat  broader  than  the  others,  led  directly 


Fig.  95. — Plan  of  the  Mosque  of  Cordova. 

to  the  kiblah, — a  structure  surrounded  upon  either  side  by  a  num- 
ber of  chapels  of  symmetrical  arrangement.  Upon  the  exterior  this 
want  of  symmetry  was  little  to  be  remarked,  as  the  enclosing  walls, 
which  were  as  thick  as  those  of  a  fortress,  were  only  divided  by  but- 
tresses of  various  dimensions  placed  at  unequal  intervals,  and  by  a 
number  of  horseshoe-arched  portals  and  windows,  arranged  solely 
with  reference  to  convenience  of  access  and  of  illumination. 

The  court,  occupying  less  than  one-third  of  the  entire  extent  of 
the  building,  is  surrounded  upon  three  sides  by  a  simple  colonnade, 


i8o 


MOHAMMEDAN   ART. 


the  supports  of  which  are  coupled  at  irregular  intervals,  quite  with- 
out reference  to  the  position  of  the  entrances.  On  the  side  of  the 
mihrab  heavy  piers  connected  by  pointed  arches  form  the  portals 
which  give  access  to  the  nineteen  aisles  of  the  hall.  The  mihrab 
covers  an  area  of  16,000  sq.  m.  The  roof  of  this  enormous  space 
was  originally  supported  by  more  than  a  thousand  columns,  eight 
hundred  and  fifty  of  which  still  remain  (Fig.  96).  Their  shafts 


Fig.  96. — View  of  the  Interior  of  the  Mosque  of  Cordova. 

are  of  gray  and  red  granite,  jasper  and  white  marble,  brought  from 
all  the  quarries  of  Spain  and  of  the  neighboring  countries.  The 
bases  were  either  omitted  altogether,  or  have  been  hidden  by  the 
pavement,  which  is  now  relaid  upon  a  higher  level.  The  capitals 
are  almost  all  of  the  Corinthian  order,  and  are  of  very  similar  de- 
sign. It  is  probable  that  only  those  in  the  western  part  of  the  build- 
ing are  of  antique  or  early  Christian  origin,  the  others  being  rough 
imitations,  executed  at  the  time  when  the  mosque  was  erected. 


ARCHITECTURE.  jgi 

The  projecting  members  above  the  capitals  are  similar  to  the  cor- 
responding details  of  the  early  Christian  columnar  construction  ; 
they  serve  as  an  impost  for  the  lower  horseshoe  arches,  which  act 
as  braces  between  the  short  piers  above  them,  these  latter  uprights 
bearing  the  semicircular  archivolts.  An  open  roof  of  carpentry, 
sheathed  with  lead,  originally  rested  upon  the  summits  of  the  archi- 
volts, nineteen  ridges  corresponding  to  the  aisles  of  the  interior,  so 
that  the  gutters  ran  directly  above  the  ranges  of  columns.  This 
roof  was  replaced  in  1715  by  light  vaults.  The  direction  towards 
the  kiblah  is  distinguished  by  ornamentations  upon  the  piers  above 
the  columns  and  by  patterns  upon  the  upper  arches.  The  chapels 
on  the  southern  side  are  richly  and  tastefully  decorated,  the  more 
recent  aedicula,  known  as  the  Villa  Viciosa,  which  stands  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  hall,  being  especially  elaborate.  A  magic  charm  is  given 
to  the  endless  vista  of  columns  and  double  arches  by  the  ingenious 
construction  of  the  ceiling,  by  the  intersecting  lines  of  the  arches, 
which  seem  like  a  translation  into  curves  of  the  straight  lines  of  the 
basilica  roof  framing,  by  the  magnificent  mosaics  upon  gold  ground 
(fesifisa),  and  by  the  rich  decorations  of  arabesques  and  written 
characters.  Nevertheless,  it  is  impossible  to  overlook  the  organic 
faults  of  the  structure,  such  as  the  unnecessary  duplication  of  the 
arches,  the  restlessness  of  the  many  openings  and  cross  lines,  the 
disproportion  of  the  height  of  the  columns  to  the  arcades  which 
were  piled  above  them,  and  the  lack  of  a  central  and  dominating 
nave.  The  effect  of  the  late  Gothic  cathedral  choir  which  has  been 
added  to  the  structure  is  not  pleasing,  and  it  is  perhaps  fortunate 
that  it  cannot  be  seen  from  the  entrance,  it  being  impossible  to  see 
through  the  forest  of  columns  in  a  diagonal  direction. 

The  first  architectural  style  of  the  Moors,  the  main  characteris- 
tics of  which  were  a  combination  of  Corinthian  columns  with  horse- 
shoe arches,  and  with  a  comparatively  restricted  ornamentation,  ap- 
pears in  several  other  Spanish  towns  as  well  as  in  Cordova.  One 
of  the  more  important  instances  is  the  small  mosque  or  synagogue 
at  Toledo,  now  known  as  the  Church  of  Cristo  de  la  Luz.  It  is  a 
square  structure,  surmounted  by  nine  cupolas,  which  are  supported 
by  four  columns,  connected  with  each  other  and  with  the  outer  walls 
by  horseshoe  arches.  The  elaborate  chapels  in  the  Mosque  of  Cor- 


182  MOHAMMEDAN   ART. 

dova  exhibit  a  further  development  of  the  Moorish  style,  resulting 
from  the  introduction  of  Byzantine  decorations  in  mosaics  and  mar- 
ble revetments.  The  magnificent  palace  of  Az  Zahra,  near  Cordova, 
built  by  the  splendor-loving  Abderrahman  III.,  A.  D.  912  to  961,  is 
an  example  of  this  second  and  more  ornate  style ;  unfortunately,  it 
was  almost  entirely  destroyed  in  1008  by  an  inroad  of  the  Moors  of 
Morocco.  The  account  of  the  four  thousand  three  hundred  columns 
of  this  edifice,  which  were  said  to  have  been  brought  not  only  from 
the  quarries  of  Spain  and  of  Northern  Africa,  but  even  from  Rome 
and  the  Byzantine  empire,  may  be  an  exaggeration  ;  still,  the  de- 
scriptions of  the  edifice  leave  no  doubt  that  it  must  have  resembled 
the  Villa  Viciosa  of  the  Mosque  of  Cordova,  and  consequently  have 
displayed  the  influence  of  Byzantine  decorations. 

The  Moors  of  Morocco,  of  the  dynasty  of  the  Almoravides,  under 
Yussuf  ben  Teshfin,  whom  the  Spanish  Arabs  had  summoned  to 
their  aid  against  the  Christians  in  the  year  1086,  soon  turned  their 
arms  against  their  confederates.  This  second  invasion  from  Africa 
furthered  a  change  of  Moslem  culture  in  Spain,  which  appears  to 
have  been  begun  in  Granada  a  century  previous  by  the  founder  of 
the  dynasty  of  Sahandja,  Zavi,  a  chief  of  Barbary.  The  art  of  By- 
zantium was  entirely  subordinated  to  that  of  Africa  and  of  Egypt. 
The  civilization  of  the  Phoenicians,  which  two  thousand  years  before 
had  preceded  the  influence  of  Rome  in  Spain,  had  been  introduced 
by  the  way  of  Carthage.  In  like  manner  this  last  invasion  of  the 
Moors  advanced  from  Morocco  in  support  of  the  Mohammedans  of 
Cordova,  who  without  their  advent  might  never  have  recovered  their 
independence  from  Byzantine  traditions.  The  culture  of  Roman 
antiquity  was  thus  preceded,  and  in  its  turn  displaced,  by  invaders 
from  the  coast  of  Africa.  The  low  and  rather  heavy  proportions  of 
the  earlier  architecture  of  Cordova  were  exchanged  for  the  more 
graceful  forms  of  the  Orient ;  the  round  horseshoe  was  replaced  by 
the  pointed  arch ;  and  that  style  particularly  designated  as  the  Moor- 
ish, which  reached  its  culmination  in  the  Alhambra,  was  introduced 
into  Spain.  Unfortunately,  the  Mosque  of  Seville,  founded  A.  D. 
1172,  which  was  one  of  the  grandest  creations  of  all  Mohammedan 
art,  has  been  preserved  to  us  only  in  small  part.  Still,  the  distin- 
guishing traits  of  this  new  style  are  clearly  apparent  in  the  gigantic 


ARCHITECTURE. 

minaret,  built  in  1 195,  which  now  serves  as 
the  belfry  of  the  cathedral,  being  known 
as  the  Giralda,  from  the  figure  of  the 
vane  surmounting  the  renaissance  super- 
structure (Fig.  97).  The  windows  and 
arcades  in  relief,  as  well  as  the  decoration 
of  the  surfaces,  display  that  delicate  elab- 
oration which  may  aptly  be  compared  to 
lace  or  filigree-work,  and  which  is  charac- 
teristic of  all  the  monuments  of  Moorish 
architecture  subsequent  to  this  period. 
The  horseshoe  form  has  given  way  to  the 
pointed  and,  at  times,  keel-shaped  arch, 
the  small  columns  are  slighter,  and  show 
the  first  attempts  to  develop  an  original 
capital.  All  the  details  point  to  a  new 
influence,  derived  from  Morocco,  and  it  is 
to  be  remarked  that  towers  of  this  de- 
scription are  elsewhere  met  with  only  on 
the  coast  of  Africa  opposite  Spain. 

The  Alcazar,  or  Palace  of  Seville  (Figs. 
85  and  98),  built  for  the  greater  part 
about  the  same  time  as  the  Mosque  and 
the  Giralda,  was  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant creations  of  the  Moors.  Little  now 
remains,  however,  of  the  original  struct- 
ure dating  to  the  twelfth  century.  The 
building  was  altered  and  extended,  by 
Moorish  architects  and  in  the  Moorish 
style,  even  after  the  conquest  of  Seville 
by  the  Christians,  A.  D.  1353  to  1364. 
These  additions  naturally  display  a  sec- 
ondary style  which  was  largely  depend- 
ent upon  that  of  the  Alhambra.  Other 
parts  of  the  building,  erected  in  the  six- 
teenth century  by  order  of  the  Emperor 
Charles  .V.,  chief  among  which  is  the 


183 


97. — The  Giralda  of  the  Ca- 
thedral of  Seville. 


!84  MOHAMMEDAN   ART. 

Patio  de  las  Doncellas,  are  distinguished  by  the  introduction  of  re- 
naissance columns  and  details  from  the  works  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  such  as  the  Salon  de  Embajadores.  The  occupation  of 
the  building  as  a  palace  until  the  present  day  has  led  to  so  many 
restorations  that  it  is  now  impossible  to  attain  a  clear  understanding 


. — Arcade  of  the  Alcazar  in  Seville. 


of  its  original  arrangement.    The  same  is  the  case  with  the  so-called 
Casa  de  Pilatos  in  Seville. 

Granada  did  not  become  important  in  artistic  respects  until  Cor- 
dova and  Seville  had  been  recovered  by  the  Christians.  When  the 
city  attained  to  an  independent  position  under  Ibn-ul  Ahmar,  about 
the  year  1240,  it  became  the  centre  of  Moorish  science  and  art,  as 


ARCHITECTURE.  185 

well  as  the  seat  of  a  court  famed  alike  for  intellectual  culture  and 
knightly  prowess.  The  natural  surroundings  of  the  city  seemed  to 
favor  this  romantic  character.  The  landscape  is  strikingly  pictur- 
esque and  beautiful:  the  luxuriant  Vega  and  the  valleys  of  the 
Xenil  and  the  Darro  forming  a  wonderful  contrast  to  the  snow-cov- 
ered peaks  which  border  the  horizon. 

The  lower  classes  as  well  as  the  cavaliers  among  the  Moors  de- 
lighted in  a  careful  construction  and  elaborate  embellishment  of 
their  dwellings.  Moved  by  a  like  impulse,  the  kings  of  Granada 
built  a  most  magnificent  and  attractive  palace  within  the  fortifica- 
tions of  the  Alhambra, — a  citadel  so  called  because  of  the  "  red  "  color 
of  its  walls.  The  greater  part  of  the  structure  dating  from  the  four- 
teenth century,  erected  by  Mohammed  III.  and  Mohammed  V.,  is 
still  standing.  The  harem,  the  buildings  for  the  dependents,  and 
the  large  enclosure  with  the  chief  portals  leading  to  the  Court  of 
the  Myrtles  and  the  Court  of  the  Lions,  have  made  way  for  an  un- 
interesting renaissance  structure  built  by  Charles  V.  It  may  be 
assumed,  however,  that  the  main  front  of  this  enclosure  was  built, 
after  the  manner  of  the  Alcazar  in  Seville  (Fig.  85),  with  a  monu- 
mental gateway  above  the  entrance. 

In  no  other  work  of  the  Moslems  has  their  peculiar  architectural 
style  attained  to  an  expression  at  once  so  independent  and  so  or- 
ganic as  in  this  comparatively  recent  creation  ;  nowhere  has  it  de- 
veloped a  nobler  and  more  graceful  beauty.  Arabian  art,  after  a 
long  subordination  to  Occidental  and  Byzantine  culture,  returned 
in  the  Alhambra  to  its  true  and  native  character.  The  tent  of  the 
sheik  was  translated  into  a  grand  and  permanent  monument,  which 
retained  even  the  lightness  and  grace  of  the  slender  poles  and  the 
richness  in  color  and  design  of  the  tapestried  hangings.  The  magic 
charm  of  Arabian  fancy  was  not  lessened  by  this  transformation,  the 
permanence  of  the  construction  of  masonry  rather  adding  the  repose 
of  the  oasis.  Marble,  wood,  glazed  tiles,  and  colored  stucco  repeat 
the  patterns  of  those  textile  works  which  had  been  familiar  to  the 
Moslems  from  the  earliest  times.  These  had  lost  nothing  of  their 
beauty  in  the  wanderings  along  the  Sahara ;  on  the  contrary,  they 
had  been  carried  to  a  still  higher  degree  of  perfection  in  the  great 
African  waste,  and  were  revived  upon  the  banks  of  the  Guadalquivir 


1 86 


MOHAMMEDAN   ART. 


in  remembrance  of  the  desert  home,  and  the  long  caravan  journeys 
thence,  with  all  the  poetic  imagery  of  nomadic  life.  As  blossoms 
appear  upon  the  outermost  branches  of  a  tree,  so  the  highest  devel- 
opment of  Arabian  culture  was  reached  in  the  most  remote  country 
to  which  it  had  extended. 

Instead  of  the  heavy  imitations  of  Corinthian  or  Byzantine  col- 
umns which  had  been  customary  in  the  earlier  Moorish  style,  there 
appear  in  the  Alharnbra  slender  shafts,  similar  to  those  reproduc- 
tions of  Egyptian  columnar  motives  which  the  Israelites  had  em- 
ployed for  the  poles  of  their  tabernacle  of  movable  tents  in  the 
Arabian  desert.  The  bases  are  composed  of  the  usual  classic  forms, 


Fig.  99. — Capitals  from  the  Alhambra. 

often  with  the  addition  of  high  mouldings  encircled  by  small  roun- 
dels, evidently  imitated  from  the  original  socket  of  turned  metal 
which  served  as  the  support  of  the  wooden  upright.  The  shafts  are 
but  slightly  diminished,  never  channelled,  but  at  times  ornamented 
with  patterns  of  lines.  Their  upper  end  displays  turned  amulets 
and  incisions,  which  somewhat  resemble  the  cords  of  the  Egyptian 
hypotrachelion,  binding  together  the  bundle  of  floral  shafts,  but 
should  rather  be  considered  as  reminiscences  of  the  fastenings  of 
the  original  tent  poles.  The  capitals  (Fig.  99)  consist  of  a  tall  neck- 
ing ornament  with  a  row  of  leaves,  or  with  a  pattern  of  woven  rib- 
bons, upon  which  rests,  in  the  place  of  an  echinus,  a  cube  decorated 
in  relief  with  the  conventionalized  foliage  of  textile  design,  or,  in 


ARCHITECTURE.  187 

exceptional  cases,  with  diminutive  stalactite  projections.  It  is  ter- 
minated by  a  bold  abacus  of  hollow  curved  profile,  above  which  is 
placed  the  impost  block.  A  strong  trunnel  projected  from  this  lat- 
ter member  and  was  dowelled  into  a  horizontal  beam  of  wood  which 
served  as  an  epistyle,  but  was  sculptured  like  a  frieze.  The  frame- 
work thus  formed  was  of  the  simplest  and  slightest  possible  kind, 
only  the  semblance  of  an  arcade  remaining.  The  arches  are  of  no 
constructive  significance  whatever,  being  formed  merely  of  stucco 
facings  supported  by  the  horizontal  beam,  having  in  the  interco- 
lumniation  a  hollow  space  between  the  outer  and  inner  surfaces.  In 
some  instances  they  are  even  perforated  with  fretwork  decorations, 
so  that  it  is  possible  to  look  quite  through  the  wall,  as  through  the 
tracery  of  a  Gothic  gablet. 

The  slender  columns,  the  wooden  framework  by  which  they  are 
connected,  and  the  revetment  of  stucco  with  which  this  latter  is 
covered,  are  all  of  so  perishable  a  nature  that  it  is  a  matter  of  sur- 
prise that  such  a  structure  should  have  lasted  for  more  than  five 
centuries,  even  under  the  most  favorable  conditions.  Indeed  it  may 
be  observed,  from  certain  inequalities  of  the  decorative  panels,  that 
the  columns  in  several  instances  shifted  from  their  position  even 
during  the  progress  of  the  building.  It  was  evidently  not  the  in- 
tention of  the  architects  to  insure  to  the  royal  palace  a  stability 
equal  to  that  of  the  massive  fortifications  of  the  Alhambra,  which 
are  formed  of  stone  and  brick  masonry  cast  in  cement.  They  de- 
sired rather  to  attain  the  light  and  festive  character  of  a  temporary 
pavilion,  and  hence  avoided  all  true  arches  and  vaults,  and  even 
massive  walls,  whenever  this  was  possible.  Vertical  and  horizontal 
memberments  were  formed  merely  by  borders  of  slight  projection, 
while  the  archivolts  were  cut  out,  so  as  to  resemble  the  fringes  of 
curtains, — entirely  losing  the  character  of  a  solid  construction  of 
vousoirs.  Still,  the  conventionalized  treatment  of  the  surfaces 
in  a  slight  relief  of  stucco  is  so  wonderfully  beautiful  that  these 
technical  defects  are  readily  overlooked.  The  most  varied  pat- 
terns, derived  from  works  of  embroidery  and  weaving,  for  which 
the  Moors  were  celebrated  until  the  end  of  the  Middle  Ages,  are 
combined  with  a  taste  and  an  ingenuity  never  since  equalled  (Figs. 
100  and  101). 


i88 


MOHAMMEDAN   ART. 


This  decorative  system  forms  the  greatest  possible  contrast  to 
that  of  the  Occident,  which  was  developed  upon  antique  forms. 
Nevertheless  the  later  art  of  the  Spanish  Moslems  retained  many 
details  which  had  been  introduced  in  the  works  of  intarsia  and  mo- 
saics, executed  by  Byzantine  artists  for  the  Moorish  court.  The 
similarity  of  the  arabesques  to  Celtic  ornaments  is  more  apparent 
than  real,  the  straight  and  curved  lined  figures  of  the  former  being 
as  directly  derived  from  weaving  and  embroidery  as  were  the  inter- 


Fig.  100. — Part  of  the  Court  of  the  Myrtles  in  the  Alhambra. 

twined  patterns  of  the  latter  from  braided  work.  The  plant-forms 
of  Moorish  decorations  are  rather  a  kaleidoscopic  arrangement  of 
conventionalized  leaves  than  a  systematic  imitation  of  natural  mod- 
els. They  resemble  in  many  ways  the  elaborate  floral  ornaments  of 
India.  This  similarity,  which  is  quite  as  recognizable  in  the  monu- 
ments of  Egypt  as  in  those  of  Spain,  is  undoubtedly  referable  to  a 
most  ancient  intercourse  between  the  inhabitants  of  both  sides  of 
the  Persian  Gulf.  The  relations  between  India  and  Persia  were  inti- 


ARCHITECTURE. 


189 


mate,  and  there  is  good  reason  to  suppose  that  the  primitive  art  of 
Arabia  was  influenced  by  that  of  India. 

The  ceilings  of  the  Alhambra  are  not  of  greater  constructive 
significance  than  are  the  supporting  members.  The  structural  char- 
acter is  everywhere  contradicted  or  masked.  The  columns  appear 
as  weak  poles,  the  walls  as  tapestries,  the  arches  as  fringed  curtains, 
and  in  like  manner  the  architectural  system  of  roof  and  ceiling  does 


Fig.  101. — The  Court  of  the  Lions  in  the  Alhambra. 

not  express  their  true  functions.  The  epistyle  beams,  it  is  true, 
support  the  horizontal  ceiling-timbers  and  the  inclined  rafters,  but 
both  are  hidden  upon  the  exterior  by  a  revetment  of  boards  which 
stands  in  no  organic  connection  whatever  with  the  true  construc- 
tion. The  ceilings  are  panelled  in  slight  relief,  and  covered,  without 
reference  to  the  arrangement  of  the  beams,  with  an  intricate  net- 
work of  delicate  mouldings,  such  as  appears  also  upon  the  surfaces 
of  the  walls  and  doors.  Even  the  cupolas  are  without  construct- 


1 90  MOHAMMEDAN   ART. 

ive  importance.  Their  stalactites  are  either  affixed  directly  to  the 
framework  of  the  pyramidal  roofing,  as  in  the  Hall  of  the  Two  Sis- 
ters and  of  the  Abencerages,  or  the  stone  is  hidden  by  a  multitude 
of  panellings  and  projections,  as  in  the  Hall  of  the  Ambassadors. 
The  system  of  small  pendentive  arches  which  appeared  so  clearly 
in  the  architecture  of  India,  and  served  as  the  basis  of  the  stalac- 
tites, is  almost  entirely  lost  in  a  maze  of  hanging  forms,  so  planned 
as  to  afford  striking  effects  of  light  and  color  rather  than  to  display 
the  character  of  the  constructive  framework. 

The  general  effect  of  the  Alhambra  may  in  some  respects  be 
compared  to  that  of  the  dwellings  of  Pompeii.  In  both  cases  the 
endeavor  was  to  lighten  all  the  architectural  members  as  much  as 
possible ;  in  both  the  forms  were  treated  in  a  playful  and  whim- 
sical manner.  In  Pompeii  the  decorations  of  the  walls  are  fan- 
ciful and  diverting,  their  constructive  impossibility  expanding  the 
narrow  walls  of  the  dwelling,  and  transporting  the  occupant  to  a 
fascinating  dream-world.  In  Granada  the  light  structure  and  the 
luxuriant  decorations  were  even  more  calculated  to  make  the  in- 
habitants forget  the  prison-like  walls  of  the  citadel,  and  carry  the 
imagination  to  the  splendid  tent  of  a  Bedouin  chief  in  some  charm- 
ing oasis, — the  ideal  of  Arabic  poetry.  The  Alhambra  was  created 
for  the  knightly  courtesy  of  the  Moors,  for  the  magnificence  of 
Oriental  silks,  the  luxury  of  jewels  and  arms,  for  the  enjoyment  of 
the  dance  and  song  accompanied  by  lutes,  and  for  the  voluptuous 
delights  of  love  in  the  groves  of  cypresses,  myrtles,  and  oranges,  in 
the  courts,  the  baths,  and  the  chambers.  The  edifice  was  an  archi- 
tectural lyric :  a  harmonious  embodiment  of  Arabian  idyls.  Its 
halls,  often  entirely  without  windows,  were  not  calculated  to  be 
seen  by  the  glare  of  day, — less  favorable  even  to  the  courts  than 
the  silvery  light  of  the  moon,  —  but  rather  by  the  dim  illumina- 
tion of  colored  lamps,  which  enhanced,  as  if  by  magic,  the  fantastic 
elaboration  of  the  walls  and  stalactite  vaults.  But  as  the  mur- 
muring of  fountains,  the  odor  of  flowers,  and  the  songs  of  night- 
ingales did  not  prevent  the  viper  from  entering  the  gardens  of  this 
terrestrial  paradise,  so  also  the  caresses  of  love  and  the  poetry  of 
this  enchanted  life  could  not  exclude  calumny  and  intrigue,  or  hin- 
der the  silent  work  of  the  damaskeened  dagger.  In  the  courts  of 


ARCHITECTURE.  InI 

the  Alhambra,  perhaps  more  than  elsewhere,  love  and  enjoyment 
cast  their  almost  inevitable  shadows  of  hate  and  crime.  The  Hall 
of  the  Abencerages  still  preserves  the  memory  of  that  celebrated 
family  which  fell  within  its  walls  as  victims  to  the  hatred  of  Abul 
Hassan. 

Almost  opposite  to  the  Alhambra,  upon  another  height  of  the 
hills  which  surround  Granada,  are  the  remains  of  the  pleasure  pal- 
ace of  Jennas  Al  Arif  (Garden  of  the  Builder),  now  known  as  the 
Generalife.  The  arrangement  of  plan  is  here  much  the  same.  As 
the  structure  was  not  enclosed  by  fortifications,  the  gardens  and 
pleasure-grounds  were  more  extended,  their  clear  brooks  and  pure 
air,  hedges  of  roses  and  beds  of  perfumed  flowers,  being  celebrated 
by  Moorish  writers.  The  present  condition  of  the  Generalife  is  not 
to  be  compared  with  that  of  the  Alhambra.  Various  remains  still 
preserved  in  the  city  of  Granada  are  of  the  same  architectural  char- 
acter, the  forms  of  the  Alhambra  being  as  predominant  in  this  part 
of  Southern  Spain  as  the  older  style  of  the  Mosque  of  Cordova  is 
in  the  country  between  that  city  and  Toledo. 

A  style  similar  to  that  which  had  developed  in  Andalusia,  after 
the  erection  of  the  Mosque  of  Seville,  under  the  dynasties  of  the 
Almoravides  and  Almohades,  and  especially  of  the  Nassrides  of 
Granada,  naturally  appeared  on  the  coasts  of  the  Mediterranean 
opposite  to  Spain.  In  Africa,  however,  the  decorations  of  the  walls 
are  much  simpler,  being  frequently  limited  to  a  revetment  of  col- 
ored tiles.  We  are  informed  by  mediaeval  writers  that  Andalusian 
architects  were  employed  in  Morocco  and  Tunis.  This,  even  were 
it  true  to  a  greater  extent  than  we  are  obliged  to  assume,  does  not 
alter  the  fact  that  the  brilliant  creations  of  the  Moors  of  Granada 
were  entirely  due  to  African  genius.  For  while  the  elements  of 
the  architecture  of  Seville  and  Granada  can  be  traced  along  the 
southern  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  to  Cairo,  and  perhaps  even 
>eyond,  to  the  deserts  of  Arabia,  they  are  so  totally  distinct  from 
the  older  works  of  the  Mohammedans  in  Spain  that  it  is  impos- 
sible to  assume  them  to  have  been  developed  from  the  style  of 
Abderrahman.  The  peculiar  forms  of  the  Alhambra  could  only 
have  originated  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  desert,  in  such  sur- 
roundings as  those  provided  by  the  northern  coast  of  Africa. 


10,2  MOHAMMEDAN   ART. 

Sicily  was  early  brought  under  the  sway  of  the  Moslems  by 
invasions  from  Kairvan,  the  oldest  centre  of  Mohammedanism  in 
Africa.  The  island  was  conquered  between  the  years  802  and  878, 
and,  by  the  wisdom  and  energy  of  the  princes  resident  in  Palermo, 
became,  during  the  following  century,  the  seat  of  a  culture  such  as 
had  previously  existed  only  during  the  ages  of  Hellenic  coloniza- 
tion. This  flourishing  period  was  not  of  long  duration,  for  dissen- 
sions among  the  conquerors  led  to  the  interference  of  the  Byzan- 
tines of  Apulia  and  of  their  adventurous  Norman  confederates, 
the  latter  soon  expelling  both  the  Byzantines  and  the  Arabs. 


Fig.  102. — The  Kuba  near  Palermo. 

Roger,  brother  of  King  Robert  Guiscard  of  Naples,  became  master 
of  the  entire  island  in  the  year  1090.  The  Norman  rulers  did  not 
consider  it  in  their  interest  to  overthrow  the  Arabian  civilization, 
which  was,  on  the  contrary,  protected  both  by  them  and  by  their 
successors  of  the  Hohenstaufen  dynasty.  Their  architectural  works 
can  thus  be  regarded  in  some  degree  as  a  substitute  for  those  of  the 
Mohammedan  epoch  which  have  been  destroyed. 

The  palaces  of  Favara,  Zisa,  and  Kuba,  near  Palermo,  were  all 
built  towards  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century :  the  Zisa,  or  Al  Azisa 
(i.e.,  the  Magnificent),  before  1166,  by  William  I.;  the  Kuba  (i.e., 
Cupola),  in  1182,  by  King  William  II.  (Fig.  102).  These  structures 


ARCHITECTURE.  193 

are  evidently  not  restorations  of  earlier  Arabian  edifices.  They  dif- 
fer decidedly,  both  in  plan  and  construction,  from  the  works  of  the 
Moors  in  Spain  and  Africa,  displaying  Northern  reminiscences  which 
must  have  been  introduced  by  the  Norman  rulers,  notwithstand- 
ing the  employment  of  Mohammedan  architects  and  masons.  In 
general  appearance  these  palaces  resemble  the  compact  masses  of 
the  older  baronial  castles  of  England.  They  contain  a  central  hall 
terminated  by  a  cupola  or  cross-vault,  and  surrounded  by  smaller 
chambers,  which  are  arranged  in  several  stories.  The  windows  and 
arcades  in  relief  are  almost  invariably  of  pointed  arched  form,  exam- 
ples of  the  horseshoe  shape  being  rare.  The  niches  of  the  interior, 
on  the  other  hand,  are  terminated  by  stalactite  projections,  while 
the  marble  incrustations  and  the  revetments  of  glazed  tiles  are  of 
the  Moorish  style.  The  Arabic  language  even  appears  in  the  in- 
scriptions upon  the  friezes. 

The  traditions  of  early  Christian  art  were  naturally  preserved  in 
the  religious  edifices  of  the  Norman  epoch,  but  not  without  the  in- 
troduction of  Arabian  influences.  The  Capella  Palatina  at  Palermo, 
for  instance,  the  nave  of  which  is  basilical,  with  Corinthian  columns, 
while  the  choir,  with  its  colored  ornaments,  is  distinctly  Byzantine, 
imitates  the  Moorish  style  both  in  the  high  arches  and  in  the  sta- 
lactite decorations  of  the  horizontal  ceiling.  In  this  building  are 
united,  in  striking  contrast,  the  styles  of  the  four  periods  of  Sicilian 
history  subsequent  to  classical  times :  the  architectural  forms  of  the 
later  Romans,  the  Byzantines,  the  Saracens,  and  the  Normans  ap- 
pearing side  by  side,  without  any  attempt  at  combination. 

Persia  and  Turkey  also  deserve  mention  among  the  countries  in 
which  Mohammedan  art  flourished.  It  is  not  possible  to  say  in 
what  connection  the  architecture  of  Persia  stood  to  that  of  Bagdad 
and  to  the  most  primitive  style  of  the  Arabs,  for  the  monuments 
of  the  first  seven  centuries  of  Mohammedan  dominion  west  of  the 
Tigris  have  disappeared  almost  without  a  vestige.  The  remains 
referable  to  the  fourteenth  and  the  fifteenth  centuries,  such  as  the 
Mosque  of  Tabris,  are  as  closely  related  to  the  architecture  of  India 
and  of  Byzantium  as  to  that  of  Arabia.  In  the  edifices  erected  by 
the  dynasty  of  the  Sofids,  and  especially  by  that  magnificent  patron 
of  the  arts,  Abbas  the  Great,  A.  D.  1585  to  1627,  the  founder  of 

13 


10,4  MOHAMMEDAN   ART. 

Ispahan,  the  Occidental  influences  are  not  so  apparent.  The  airy 
halls  of  Maidan  Shahi  (Place  of  the  King),  of  Ispahan,  display  a  com- 
bination of  ancient  Persian  elements  with  the  forms  of  Ghazni. 

The  mosques,  palaces,  bazaars,  caravansaries,  and  medressehs,  or 
high-schools,  were  formed  by  extended  arcades  of  keel-shaped  arches, 
supported  upon  piers,  often  in  two  stories,  a  grand  portal  placed  in 
a  niche  occupying  the  middle  of  the  facade.  Tall  minarets  of  cir- 
cular plan  stood  upon  either  side  of  the  mosque,  the  main  hall  of 
which  was  covered  with  a  dome  of  an  outline  similar  to  the  turnip- 
shaped  cupolas  of  Russia,  but  of  a  more  graceful  curve.  The  upper 
story  was  commonly  of  timbered  construction,  and  the  columns, 
even  when  supporting  horizontal  ceilings  of  considerable  span,  were 
formed  of  wood.  Friezes  of  Arabic  characters  took  the  place  of  a 
regular  entablature,  the  ornamentation  of  the  walls,  composed  of 
floral  motives,  being  much  more  realistic  in  treatment  than  that  of 
Cairo  or  Granada,  and  resembling  the  decorations  of  India  both  in 
form  and  in  color.  Glazed  tiles  were  not  often  employed,  and  the 
arabesques  were  not  sculptured  in  relief,  a  simple  design  of  bright 
colors  being  painted  directly  upon  the  flat  surface  of  the  plaster. 
Even  the  largest  buildings  were  seldom  of  a  monumental  character, 
while  the  private  dwellings  were  not  calculated  to  serve  more  than 
one  generation. 

The  architecture  of  the  Turks  was  entirely  under  the  influence 
of  that  of  the  Byzantines.  Even  the  Seljukians  had  returned  to 
the  hemispherical  dome,  and  had  copied  their  columns  and  decora- 
tions from  Byzantine  and  especially  from  Armenian  models,  as  is 
seen  in  the  edifices  of  Konieh  (Iconium),  Kaisarieh  (Caesarea),  Erze- 
roum,  etc.  The  pointed  arch  was  introduced  as  a  novelty,  while 
reminiscences  of  older  styles  are  also  met  with,  such  as  the  imita- 
tion of  the  fagades  of  Phrygian  tombs  in  the  Medresseh  of  Iconium. 

The  Turkish  palaces  at  Broussa  and  Nicaea,  dating  to  the  four- 
teenth and  fifteenth  centuries,  show  that  the  forms  of  the  Eastern 
empire  were  the  more  closely  imitated  the  more  the  Ottoman  Turks 
advanced  towards  Constantinople.  After  the  fall  of  the  capital,  in 
the  year  1453,  the  successors  of  Osman  not  only  employed  the  chief 
church  of  that  city  for  Mohammedan  rites,  but  directly  copied  the 
Byzantine  models  in  their  earlier  buildings,  which  were  often  de- 


ARCHITECTURE.  ig$ 

signed  by  Byzantine  architects.  It  thus  resulted  that,  notwithstand- 
ing the  introduction  of  the  pointed  arch  and  some  alterations  and 
improvements  of  the  concentric  plan,  the  architecture  of  the  Turks 
presents  few  constructive  or  artistic  peculiarities.  The  Church  of 
St.  Sophia  was  frequently  copied,  notably  in  the  grand  Mosque  of 
Soliman  II.,  and  the  Church  of  the  Apostles  and  that  of  the  Sts. 
Sergius  and  Bacchus  were  also  imitated.  Byzantine  materials  were 
directly  employed  for  the  interior  decorations,  these  being  either 
procured  from  various  buildings,  as  in  the  Mosque  of  Sultan  Bajazet 
(A.  D.  1498),  or  provided  by  the  demolition  of  a  Christian  church, 
as  in  the  mosques  of  Soliman  II.  and  Selim  II.,  built  in  the  six- 
teenth century.  Thus  the  architecture  of  the  Turks  returned  to 
that  dependence  upon  the  art  of  the  Eastern  Empire  with  which 
the  Arabians  had  begun  in  Syria. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  main  advances  of  Arabian  architect- 
ure were  not  made  in  the  all-important  branches  of  construction, 
but  rather  in  decorative  adjuncts  closely  related  to  sculpture  and 
painting,  it  is  surprising  that  these  latter  arts  were  themselves  not 
more  cultivated  by  the  Moslems.  This  neglect  would  have  been 
quite  incompatible  with  the  delight  in  forms  and  colors  which  the 
Arabs  have  displayed,  if  they  had  not  systematically  avoided  the 
representation  of  living  beings,  the  true  themes  of  the  imitative  arts. 
This  aversion  existed  among  the  Jews  as  well  as  among  the  Moham- 
medans. The  fanciful  nature  of  the  Semitic  races  is  opposed  to  the 
accurate  imitation  of  living  organisms  from  the  natural  models,  while 
the  precepts  of  religion  have  followed  the  popular  instinct  in  pro- 

louncing  a  ban  against  that  which  was  condemned  by  natural  feel- 

igs.     If  Christianity  had  never  extended  beyond  the  land  in  which 
originated  there  would  probably  have  been  no  Christian  as  there 

ras  no  Jewish  art  of  painting. 
The  doctrines  of  Mohammed  interdicted  graven  images  even 

lore  severely  than  did  those  of  Moses.  Wine-drinking,  gambling, 
:he  making  of  images,  and  the  casting  of  lots  are  pronounced  by 
:he  fifth  sura  of  the  Koran  to  be  abominable,  and  the  traditional 

•unna  even  goes  so  far  as  to  assert  that  the  prophet  chiefly  directed 
lis  mission  against  three  classes  of  men :  the  proud,  the  idolaters, 
ind  the  painters,  declaring  eternal  damnation  to  be  the  part  of  those 


196  MOHAMMEDAN   ART. 

who  imitated  the  forms  of  living  beings.  Carved  and  painted  repre- 
sentations of  men  and  animals  are  thus  considered  by  the  Mos- 
lems as  highly  objectionable,  and  are  consequently  rare.  In  the  few 
cases  where  they  are  found,  even  though  side  by  side  with  masterly 
works  of  other  branches  of  art,  they  are  extremely  rude. 

The  Mohammedans  of  India,  Persia,  Sicily,  and  Spain  were  more 
tolerant,  this  being  doubtless  as  much  due  to  their  position  in  re- 
gard to  strict  orthodoxy  as  to  the  influence  of  the  art  previously 
existing  in  the  lands  occupied  by  them.  The  Jews  were  not  wholly 
without  sculpture,  and  it  naturally  resulted  from  the  close  connec- 
tion between  the  religions  of  the  Arabs  and  the  Israelites  that  those 
graven  images  which  Jehovah  had  overlooked  were  not  regarded  as 
offensive  by  the  followers  of  the  prophet.  It  is  thus  not  surprising 
that  figures  similar  to  cherubim  appear  on  the  carvings  of  ceiling- 
beams  and  consoles,  on  vases  and  small  mirrors  of  metal;  or  that 
the  fountain  basins  supported  upon  the  backs  of  animals,  such  as 
are  known  from  descriptions  to  have  existed  in  several  Moorish 
palaces  of  Spain  besides  the  Alhambra,  should  exhibit  reminiscences 
of  the  Molten  Sea  of  Solomon's  Temple.  It  is  certainly  not  acci- 
dental that  the  animals  of  the  Fountain  of  the  Lions  in  Granada 
resemble,  in  conventional  treatment,  the  lions  of  the  well-known 
Phoenician  monument  of  Amrith,*  while  being  entirely  different 
from  all  similar  figures  of  Romanic  art.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Byzantine  origin  of  other  fountains  of  this  kind, — such,  for  instance, 
as  that  of  Az  Zahra,  with  the  figure  of  a  golden  swan, — is  directly 
attested. 

Whatever  went  beyond  this  was  taboo,  and  was  quite  as  offen- 
sive to  the  orthodox  Mussulman  as  the  wine-bibbing  to  which  the 
Spanish  Moors  were  much  addicted.  It  appears  to  have  been  less 
hard  for  the  Moslems  to  renounce  the  former  than  the  latter  sin, 
judging  by  the  scarcity  of  their  sculptures.  The  collections  have 
preserved  but  few  carvings,  and  the  accounts  of  works  of  sculpture 
given  by  Arabic  writers  do  not  indicate  the  existence  of  any  activity 
in  this  branch  of  art.  The  descriptions  of  real  statues  are  scanty; 
we  have  little  information  concerning  such  doll-like  figures  of  paint- 

*  "  History  of  Ancient  Art,"  by  Dr.  Franz  von  Reber,  p.  136. 


SCULPTURE. 


197 


ed  wood  as  the  portraits  of  Khomarujah,  his  wives,  and  the  singers 
of  his  court,  which  stood  in  a  magnificent  hall  of  his  palace  at  Cairo, 
or  of  that  portrait  statue  of  the  beautiful  wife  of  Abderrahman  II., 
which  was  placed  in  the  Palace  of  Az  Zahra  near  Cordova.  We 
have  no  detailed  descriptions  of  the  female  statues  in  Al  Motamed's 
Palace  of  Seradjib  at  Silves,  while  the  knight  of  bronze  upon  the 
gable  of  the  Palace  of  King  Badis  in  Granada  appears  to  have  been 
an  architectural  ornament,  after  the  manner  of  an  acroterion,  rather 
than  an  independent  work  of  sculpture.  The  representations  of  ani- 
mals always  have  a  more  or  less  decorative  or  heraldic  character, 
even  when  not  serving  practical  uses,  for  instance,  as  gargoyles  or 
the  supports  of  fountains, — not  being  mainly  remarkable  for  their 


Fig.  103. — Marble  Relief  from  Granada. 

material  value,  like  the  golden  lion  with  eyes  of  jewels  in  the  Palace 
of  the  Water-wheel  near  Cordova, — or  not  being  mere  curiosities 
which,  from  the  manner  of  their  execution,  are  beneath  our  present 
consideration.  This  last  was  evidently  the  character  of  the  twelve 
knights  which,  at  the  end  of  every  hour,  came  out  from  as  many 
niches  of  the  clock  sent  as  a  gift  from  Haroun  al  Raschid  to  Charle- 
magne, as  also  of  the  "  singing  "  birds  of  gold  and  silver  in  the  tree 
of  precious  metal  which  stood  in  the  audience  hall  of  the  caliph 
Moktadir  Billah. 

Other  representations  of  the  figures  of  men  and  animals  were  so 
entirely  of  a  decorative  character  that  the  patterns  with  which  they 
were  combined  were  of  more  important  dimensions,  as  well  as  more 
successful  in  artistic  respects.  In  the  relief  from  Granada,  shown 


!Qg  MOHAMMEDAN   ART. 

in  Fig.  103,  the  symmetrical  arrangement  of  the  forms  is  very  no- 
ticeable, and  the  same  is  the  case  with  the  few  remaining  carvings 
of  wood,  in  which  single  human  figures  are  introduced  into  ara- 
besques in  combination  with  musical  instruments,  vessels,  and  hunt- 
ing accoutrements. 

The  conventional  treatment  of  animal  forms  in  the  textile  works 
of  the  Moslems,  which  were  so  highly  prized  throughout  Europe, 
was  of  decisive  influence  in  the  determination  of  the  heraldic  de- 
vices of  the  Middle  Ages.  The  illustrations  of  manuscripts  were 
often  of  a  more  naturalistic  style  (compare  Fig.  104),  but  true  mon- 


Fig.  104. — Miniature  in  a  Manuscript  of  Ibn  Zafer,  of  Sicily,  Library  of  the  Escurial. 

umental  paintings  were  almost  altogether  unknown.  The  artists  in 
mosaic  who  had  been  invited  from  Constantinople  occasionally  ex- 
ceeded the  limits  of  merely  decorative  representations,  but  their 
works  were  entirely  Byzantine,  as  were  also  the  imitations  of  them 
by  Arabian  hands,  which  were,  however,  rare,  the  fesifisa  mosaics  of 
the  Arabs  usually  being  limited  to  floral  patterns.  When  Moham- 
medan painters  attained  to  an  individual  celebrity  this  was  com- 
monly due  to  their  illuminations,  as  is  evident  from  the  accounts  of 
the  artists  Kassir  and  Ibn  Aziz,  who,  in  the  eleventh  century,  were 
employed  by  the  bibliophile  Bazuri,  vizier  of  the  court  of  the  caliph 
Mostansir.  The  mural  paintings  which  they  are  said  to  have  exe- 


SCULPTURE. 


199 


cuted  in  competition,  representing  the  figure  of  Kassir  going  into 
the  wall,  and  that  of  Ibn  Aziz  coming  out  from  it,  should  rather  be 
considered  as  ingenious  displays  of  technical  bravura  than  as  exam- 
ples of  a  true  monumental  art.  To  admit  this  is  not  to  question 
the  rivalry  of  the  two  artists,  related  by  Makrizi,  although  the  epi- 
sode may  have  been  borrowed  from  the  well-known  anecdote  of 
Zeuxis  and  Parrhasios.  The  tales  concerning  the  miraculous  "  Jo- 
seph in  the  Well "  of  the  painter  Al  Kitami,  in  the  Dar  ul  Neman 
at  Cairo,  belong  to  the  same  category;  while  the  painted  garden 
wall  of  a  house  at  Bagdad  described  in  the  "  Arabian  Nights,"  if  not 
altogether  fabulous,  may  be  considered  as  a  reminiscence  of  the  pic- 


•'•    -i*-^  K-^ 


Fig.  105.  —  Painting  from  the  Hall  of  Judgment  in  the  Alhambra. 


torial  art  of  Mesopotamia,  the  influence  of  which  upon  Moham- 
medan painting  was,  without  doubt,  quite  as  important  as  was  that 
of  India. 

Similar  relations  were  maintained  with  the  Occident.  The  walls 
of  the  early  Christian  churches  occupied  by  the  Moors  were  covered 
with  paintings,  and  manuscripts  illuminated  by  Western  artists  must 
frequently  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Saracens.  Ibn  Khaldun, 
one  of  the  most  intelligent  and  trustworthy  of  Arabic  writers,  asserts 
that  the  Mohammedans  of  Andalusia  had  adopted  the  custom  of 
decorating  their  houses  and  palaces  with  paintings  "  in  consequence 


200 


MOHAMMEDAN   ART. 


of  their  intimate  intercourse  with  the  Christians."  We  have  ac- 
counts of  pictorial  representations  on  walls  in  the  Palace  of  Al 
Motamed  in  Seville,  and  on  ceilings  of  a  castle  of  Al  Mansour  in 
Bagia ;  while  in  the  Alhambra  there  are  still  three  well-preserved 
paintings  on  leather,  which  were  affixed  to  the  ceilings  of  the  three 
niches  in  the  so-called  Hall  of  Judgment.  One  of  these  latter,  with 
the  figures  of  ten  kings  of  Granada,  is  decidedly  of  an  Oriental  char- 
acter, and  mention  is  made  by  Moorish  writers  of  works  of  portrait- 
ure of  this  kind.  The  subjects,  the  composition,  and  the  details  of 
the  two  other  paintings  leave  no  doubt  that  they  are  products  of 
Occidental  art,  and  are  referable  to  the  Gothic  period  (Figs.  105 


Fig.  106. — Painting  from  the  Hall  of  Judgment  in  the  Alhambra. 


and  106).  The  hunts,  chivalric  encounters,  and  episodes  of  knight- 
ly love,  even  the  architecture  represented  in  them,  are  so  foreign  to 
Arabic  conceptions  that  they  must  be  ascribed  to  Christian  painters 
or  renegades. 

The  methods  of  textile  art,  which  were  so  important  in  deter- 
mining the  characteristics  of  Arabian  architecture,  tended  also  to 
limit  the  provinces  of  sculpture  and  painting.  Subjects  which  were 
not  adapted  to  representations  in  weaving  and  embroidery  were  but 
rarely  modelled  or  drawn.  The  intricate  repetitions  of  tapestry  pat- 
terns were  almost  exclusively  employed  as  models,  serving  for  the 
decorations  of  walls  in  arabesques  of  relief  or  color,  as  well  as  in 


PAINTING.  2O I 

woven  hangings.  There  was  thus  no  field  for  independent  crea- 
tions in  the  imitative  arts.  While  the  Moslems  delighted  and  ex- 
celled in  poetical  accounts  of  human  charms  and  deeds,  and  in  the 
musical  expression  of  the  feelings,  they  remained  indifferent  to  pic- 
torial and  plastic  representations  of  these  subjects, — the  permanence 
of  which  did  not  agree  with  the  intellectual  mobility  of  these  chil- 
dren of  the  desert. 


Fig.  107. — Part  of  the  so-called  Palace  of  Theodoric  in  Ravenna. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  ART  OF  THE  NORTH  UNTIL 
THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  CAROLINGIAN  EPOCH. 

AS  the  Celts  and  the  Germans  received  Christianity  from  the 
Romans,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  earliest  Christian  works 
of  art  should  be  as  little  distinguishable  in  the  North  as  in  Italy 
itself,  from  the  pagan  and  classic  models  which  preceded  them. 
This  was  particularly  the  case  in  those  districts  of  Gaul  and  Ger- 
many which  had  been  for  centuries  under  the  sway  of  the  Romans, 
so  that  the  primitive  indigenous  art  had  long  been  entirely  sup- 
planted by  the  civilization  of  Rome.  The  great  extent  and  uni- 
formity of  the  Roman  Empire  was  highly  favorable  to  the  expan- 
sion of  the  Christian  faith,  and  to  the  introduction  of  the  regular 
architectural  forms  which  had  been  determined  as  most  fitting  for 
the  Church.  The  conversion  of  the  Celto- Germanic  provinces  of 
Rome  thus  resulted  in  a  repetition  of  the  ecclesiastical  buildings 
of  the  capital  itself,  the  art  of  the  ancients  affording  not  only  mod- 
els but  materials  for  the  new  edifices,  which  were  frequently  con- 
structed of  the  fragments  of  Roman  works. 

The  frequent  introduction  of  such  older  architectural  members 


ARCHITECTURE. 


203 


renders  it  difficult  to  assign  a  date  to  the  more  primitive  buildings 
of  the  North  erected  for  Christian  worship.  This  eclectic  practice 
would  interfere  with  a  systematic  historical  consideration,  even  if 
many  more  memorials  had  been  preserved.  An  approximate  chron- 
ological determination  is  possible,  inasmuch  as  the  decadence  of  art 
beginning  with  the  third  century  had  affected  the  entire  Roman 
Empire,  alike  from  the  Rhine  to  Africa,  and  from  Spain  to  Greece ; 
but  the  customary  plundering  of  earlier 
buildings  and  the  indiscriminate  copy- 
ing and  restoration  does  not  allow  us 
to  draw  conclusions  as  to  the  exact  age 

o 

of  any  of  the  structures.  It  is,  for  in- 
stance, impossible  to  tell  whether  the 
large  columns  of  granite  in  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Treves  (Fig.  108),  three  of  which 
are  built  into  the  piers  of  the  later  res- 
toration, are  a  part  of  the  first  construc- 
tion, assumed  to  be  as  early  as  A.  D. 
330,  or  were  introduced  in  the  rebuild- 
ing of  this  church  by  Bishop  Nicetius, 
between  534  and  565.  The  same  is  the 
case  with  the  rough  Corinthian  capitals 
surmounting  the  pilasters  which  corre- 
spond to  these  shafts. 

The  eastern  Germanic  races,  on  the 
other  hand,  had  not  had  the  training  of 
Roman  culture  during  preceding  centu- 
ries, but  were  civilized  and  Christianized 
at  the  same  time,  either  through  their 
own  migrations,  or  through  the  labors 

of  missionaries  sent  from  Rome.  These  tribes  did  not  build  cities, 
but  lived  in  granges,  dispersed  throughout  the  country,  thus  having 
no  important  public  buildings  or  houses  of  worship.  They  could 
but  accept  the  civilization  of  the  Romans  without  reserve.  Still 
it  is  not  strange  that  their  subsequent  works  should  display  the 
barbarous  debasements  which  resulted  from  want  of  practice  in  the 
arts,  as  well  as  from  the  introduction  of  certain  native  reminis- 


Fig.  108. — Restored  Plan  and  Sec- 
tion of  the  Cathedral  of  Treves. 


204  THE   CHRISTIAN   ART   OF   THE   NORTH. 

cences  into  the  classic  style.  In  districts  remote  from  the  great 
centres  of  contemporary  culture  the  adoption  of  the  antique  civ- 
ilization could  not  be  thorough  and  lasting.  Indeed  it  was  scarcely 
possible  to  introduce  an  understanding  of  classic  architecture  and 
art  through  the  missionaries,  even  if  these  agents  had  done  their 
utmost  to  further  such  ends.  Thus  primitive  and  indigenous  tim- 
bered constructions,  such  as  block  houses,  continued  to  be  erected 
in  those  tracts  of  Germany  which  had  not  been  colonized  by  the 
Romans,  especially  in  the  north-eastern  districts. 

Even  in  those  countries  which  had  been  occupied  by  the  east- 
ern German  races,  the  few  vestiges  of  artistic  works,  dating  to 
the  period  of  their  domination,  which  have  been  preserved  to  the 
present  day,  exhibit  barbarous  traits.  This  was  the  case  with  the 
architectural  creations  of  the  Ostrogoths,*  who  during  the  short 
period  of  their  occupation  of  Italy,  from  the  beginning  until  the 
middle  of  the  sixth  century,  and  especially  under  the  energetic 
government  of  Theodoric  the  Great,  erected  more  important  monu- 
ments than  did  the  later  Roman  emperors  themselves.  These 
works,  it  is  true,  were  chiefly  raised  by  the  hands  of  their  Roman 
subjects:  it  is  known  that  Theodoric  himself  employed  Cassiodorus 
of  Scylaceum  as  councillor  and  private  secretary,  and  the  Romans, 
Aloisius  and  Daniel,  as  architect  and  sculptor  of  the  court.  Thus 
the  restorations  made  by  the  Ostrogoths  in  Rome  are  not  to  be  dis- 
tinguished from  the  last  works  of  the  Caesars ;  while  the  fortifica- 
tion walls  of  Verona  and  the  substructure  of  Theodoric's  palace  at 
Terracina  exhibit  no  architectural  innovations. 

In  some  instances  the  Northern  builders  did  not  resist  the 
temptation  to  put  their  own  hands  to  the  work,  traces  of  their 
individuality  being  plainly  recognizable  in  those  two  monuments 
of  the  Ostrogoths  which  have  remained  in  the  most  perfect  state 
of  preservation.  The  first  of  these,  the  structure  now  forming  the 
fagade  of  the  cloister  of  the  Franciscans  at  Ravenna  (Fig.  107),  is 
not  known  with  absolute  certainty  to  have  been  a  part  of  the 


*  G.  Cordero  di  S.  Quintino,  Dell'  italiana  architettura  durante  la  dominazione  Longo- 
barda.  Brescia,  1829. — F.  Osten,  Die  Bauwerke  in  der  Lombardei  vom  7.  bis  zum  14. 
Jahrhundert.  Darmstadt,  1846-1854. 


ARCHITECTURE.  205 

Palace  of  Theodoric ;  but  the  helpless  imitation  of  such  Roman 
structures  as  the  portal  of  Diocletian  at  Spalatro,  and  probably 
also  the  palace  of  the  last  emperors  of  the  Western  Empire  at 
Ravenna,  lead  us  to  consider  it  rather  as  a  first  attempt  of  the 
Goths  than  as  a  previous  Roman  or  a  subsequent  Byzantine  work. 
The  entire  lack  of  understanding  of  the  forms  of  classic  architect- 
ure,— appearing,  for  instance,  in  the  curious  imposts  of  the  entrance- 
portal,  in  the  consoles  supporting  the  sill  upon  which  stand  the 
small  columns  of  the  upper  story,  and  in  the  outlandish  capital 
from  a  column  of  the  Tribune  (Fig.  109),— js  so  striking  that  we  are 
obliged  to  consider  this  fagade  to  be  the 
work  of  the  barbarians. 

The   second  memorial  of  the  Ostro- 
goths, the  mausoleum  of  Theodoric,  now 
S.  Maria  della  Rotonda,  is  known  with 
greater  certainty  to  have  been  built  dur- 
ing the  reign  of  Theodoric,  and  in  artistic 
respects  more  clearly  displays  the  charac- 
teristics of  the  Northern  invaders  (Fig. 
no).     The  so-called  Palace  of  Theodoric     Fig  I09._Capitai  from  the  so- 
closely  resembles  the  palace  of  a  Roman        called  Palace  of  Theodoric. 
emperor :  in  like  manner  the  mausoleum 

of  Theodoric  is  an  imitation  of  the  tombs  of  Augustus  and  Ha- 
drian,— that  of  the  former  serving  as  a  model  for  the  lower,  that 
of  the  latter  for  the  upper  story.  The  details  of  its  execution  ex- 
hibit many  forms  foreign  to  Roman  art,  blended  with  those  of 
the  debased  style  of  the  sixth  century.  The  dimensions  of  the 
monument  are  not  great,  it  measuring  only  13  m.  in  diameter  and 
somewhat  over  14  m.  in  height,  but  its  position,  and  the  size  of 
some  of  its  stones,  give  it  an  imposing  character.  The  decagonal 
substructure  forms  ten  niches  of  rectagonal  plan,  one  of  which  pro- 
vides the  entrance  to  the  cross-shaped  funeral  chamber.  The  round 
arches  of  these  niches  show  a  joggling  of  the  voussoirs  rare  in  Ro- 
man architecture,  this  refinement  appearing  also  in  the  horizontal 
discharging  lintel  above  the  door  of  the  superstructure.  The  ten- 
sided  upper  story  is  but  10.5  m.  in  diameter.  The  step  thus  result- 
ing formed  a  concentric  passage,  ornamented  with  a  colonnade  of 


206 


THE   CHRISTIAN   ART   OF   THE   NORTH. 


double  shafts,  which  has  now  disappeared.  Traces  of  the  curved 
juncture  of  its  ceiling  with  the  walls  are  still  visible,  these  indicating 
that  it  was  not  a  regular  vault,  but  a  combination  of  ceiling  and 
lean-to  roof,  formed  by  blocks  extending  from  one  support  to  the 
other.  Above  the  encircling  projection  upon  which  this  roofing 
rested,  the  walls  are  continued  in  round  plan  to  a  bold  cornice. 
The  mouldings,  of  singularly  barbarous  profile,  support  a  band  simi- 
lar to  a  frieze,  the  forms  of  which  appear  to  be  an  imitation  of 


Fig.  no. — Mausoleum  of  Theodoric  in  Ravenna. 

boards  perforated  by  fret  sawing,  and  are  even  more  foreign  to  the 
Roman  style  than  are  the  debased  egg-and-dart  cymas  in  the  re- 
cesses of  the  upper  story.  Upon  this  main  cornice  rests  a  mono- 
lithic dome,  of  a  low  shape,  unknown  to  Roman  art,  and  provided 
with  knob-like  handles.  The  stone,  brought  from  the  quarries  of 
Istria,  measures  not  less  than  10  m.  in  diameter  and  I  m.  in  thick- 
ness. The  transportation  of  this  gigantic  block  across  sea  and  land 
was  a  very  considerable  undertaking,  —  as  it  has  been  termed  by 
Schnaase,  a  combination  of  Roman  intelligence  with  Gothic  force 


ARCHITECTURE. 


207 


similar  to  that  which  Theodoric  endeavored  to  attain  in  his  Italian 
empire. 

Byzantine  civilization,  which  had  long  been  gaining  ground  in 
Ravenna,  and  was  fully  established  through  the  occupation  of  Italy 
by  Justinian,  would,  without  doubt,  have  been  further  extended  had 
not  the  power  of  the  Western  Empire  been  again  driven  back  by 
another  Germanic  race,  the  Lombards.  The  rule  of  the  Ostrogoths, 
especially  during  the  reign  of  Theodoric,  had  not  led  to  a  dimi- 
nution of  the  artistic  indus- 
try of  Italy;  this  was  not 
the  case  with  the  hordes  of 
Alboin,  which  were  far  more 
rude  than  the  Goths,  and 
consequently  adapted  them- 
selves more  slowly  and  more 
imperfectly  to  the  existing 
civilization  of  Italy.  The 
Romans  were  by  this  time 
so  reduced  by  their  con- 
tinual struggles  with  the 
Barbarians  and  the  By- 
zantines, that  they  could 
not  exercise  so  great  an 
influence  upon  the  Lom- 
bards as  they  had  upon 
the  Ostrogoths.  Still,  me- 
morials of  Lombardic  ar- 
chitecture are  not  altogeth- 
er lacking.  The  palaces  of 

Queen  Theodelinde,  that  of  King  Bertari  at  Pavia,  and  that  of  King 
Luitprand  at  Olona,  even  attained  a  certain  magnificence,  which  may 
be  ascribed  to  the  Byzantine  decorations  of  these  edifices.  The  Pa- 
lazzo delle  Torri  in  Turin  was  probably  erected  before  the  occupation 
of  the  country  by  the  Lombards,  while  the  age  of  S.  Frediano  and 
S.  Michele  in  Lucca,  and  of  S.  Salvadore  in  Brescia  is  at  least  uncer- 
tain. The  Baptistery  of  the  Church  of  St.  John  at  Cividale  is  in 
greater  part  well  preserved.  It  was  erected  by  the  Patriarch  Calix- 


Fig.  in.— Baptistery  of  the  Patriarch  Calixtus  in 
S.  Giovanni,  Cividale. 


208  THE   CHRISTIAN   ART   OF   THE   NORTH. 

tus  of  Aquileja,  A.  D.  716  to  762,  who  had  transferred  his  seat  to 
Cividale  from  Cormons,  whither  it  had  been  removed  after  the  de- 
struction of  Aquileja  by  the  Huns.  The  octagonal  structure  which 
now  remains  (Fig.  1 1 1),  consisting  of  archivolts  and  columns  of  early 
Christian  character,  is  but  the  interior  of  the  original  monument ;  it 
was  placed  within  the  church  after  the  earthquake  of  1448. 

After  the  age  of  Justinian  the  civilization  of  Italy  continued  to 
decline,  until  it  became  inferior  to  that  of  Gaul  and  Western  Ger- 
many. In  the  south  of  Gaul  the  Visigoths  of  the  empire  of  Tolosa 
long  preserved  the  artistic  traditions  of  Rome,  while  in  the  north 
traces  of  an  independent  culture  began  to  show  themselves  under 
the  Prankish  Merovingians.  The  palaces  built  by  this  dynasty, 
when  Roman  edifices  were  not  available  for  occupation,  were  little 
superior  to  the  granges  of  the  primitive  Germanic  chiefs,  being  con- 
structed chiefly  of  wood,  or,  in  rare  instances,  of  rubble  masonry 
cast  in  mortar  "  gallic ano  more,"  —  very  different  from  the  hewn 
stones  of  the  "  opus  romanum"  On  the  other  hand,  the  Merovingian 
churches  early  attained  a  certain  degree  of  perfection,  and  had  an 
important  bearing  upon  the  future  development  of  ecclesiastical  ar- 
chitecture.* The  designs  were  influenced  by  the  style  of  Milan,  and 
indirectly  by  that  of  Ravenna  and  Constantinople,  this  being  due 
to  the  position  of  Milan  in  religious  matters  and  to  the  political 
ascendency  of  the  two  latter  cities.  The  Church  of  the  Virgin  at 
Ebrodunum  (Embrun),  built  as  early  as  A.  D.  392  by  Bishop  Ar- 
temius,  and  the  Church  of'  SS.  Gervasius  and  Protasius  in  Tours, 
built  by  Bishop  Eustochius  between  the  years  443  and  460,  both 
obtained  their  stock  of  relics  from  Milan.  It  is  hence  probable  that 
the  cruciform  plan  of  these  edifices  was  imitated  from  that  of  the 
Church  of  the  Apostles  in  Milan  (S.  Nazaro  al  Corpo,  or  Grande), 
in  the  same  way  as  this,  in  its  turn,  had  been  derived  from  the  Con- 
stantine  Church  of  the  Apostles  in  Byzantium.  The  plan  of  the 
church  at  Clermont,  built  by  the  bishop  Namatius  between  446  and 
462,  is  particularly  mentioned  as  having  been  shaped  like  a  cross, 
and  this  was  probably  also  the  case  with  the  Church  of  the  Apostles, 


*  H.  Graf,  Die  Entstehung  der  kreuzfftrmigen  Basilica.     (Opus  francigenum.)     Stutt- 
gart. 1878. 


ARCHITECTURE.  209 

or,  as  it  was  called  in  later  times,  St.  Genoveva,  in  Paris,  which 
Clovis,  the  founder  of  the  Merovingian  dynasty,  erected  after  A.D. 
496  as  his  mortuary  chapel.  But  it  is  certain  that  the  transepts 
of  these  churches  were  only  covered  by  horizontal  ceilings,  as  had 
been  originally  the  case  with  the  Church  of  the  Apostles  in  Con- 
stantinople, built  before  the  age  of  Justinian,  and  also  with  the 
Church  of  the  Apostles  (S.  Nazaro)  at  Milan,  built  by  St.  Ambro- 
sius  towards  the  close  of  the  fourth  century.  Vaults  like  those  of 
S.  Nazaro  e  Celso  in  Ravenna  rarely  appear  during  this  period,  and 
were  employed  only  in  small  dimensions. 

Basilicas  of  the  normal  arrangement,  without  transepts,  also  ap- 
peared in  France  during  the  earliest  ages.  The  Church  of  St.  Mar- 
tin at  Tours,  founded  by  Bishop  Perpetuus  in  472,  was  of  this  sim- 
pler type,  and  we  should  doubtless  consider  as  regular  basilicas  all 
those  churches  which  were  built  by  the  successors  of  St.  Benedict, 
after  St.  Maur,  following  the  call  of  Innocent,  bishop  of  Le  Mans, 
had  come  to  Gaul  in  the  year  543,  and  founded  Glannafolium  (Glan- 
feuil)  in  the  district  of  Anjou.  This  explains  the  resemblance  of 
the  four  churches  of  that  place,  among  which  is  the  tower -like 
structure  of  St.  Michael,  to  the  prototype  of  Monte  Casino.  Chil- 
debert,  the  son  of  Clovis,  had  his  residence  in  Paris  and  did  not 
receive  the  emissaries  of  St.  Benedict  with  favor.  In  the  important 
basilica  of  St.  Vincent  (St.  Germain-des-Pres)  in  Paris,  built  between 
543  and  558  as  the  second  mortuary  chapel  of  the  Merovingians, 
he  returned  to  the  cruciform  plan,  as  did  also  Clotaire,  the  fourth 
son  of  Clovis,  in  the  Church  of  St.  Medardus  at  Soissons,  built  be- 
tween 560  and  570  as  the  third  mausoleum  of  his  dynasty.  This 
latter  edifice  did  not  equal  the  architectural  importance  and  mag- 
nificence of  St.  Germain-des-Pres,  whose  marble  columns,  gilded 
ceiling-panels,  and  copper  roof  were  celebrated  by  the  poets  of  the 
Merovingian  and  Carolingian  ages.  The  extension  of  the  western 
transept  and  the  enlargement  to  three  aisles,  which  gave  to  St.  Ger- 
main-des-Pres the  character  of  a  basilica,  are  probably  to  be  ascribed 
to  Chilperic,  the  nephew  of  Childebert,  A.  D.  577.  This  was,  in  all 
probability,  the  first  appearance  of  that  combination  which  was  re- 
peated in  the  plan  of  St.  Gall,  and  was  destined  to  serve  as  the  fun- 
damental type  of  mediaeval  church  architecture. 

14 


2io  THE   CHRISTIAN   ART   OF   THE   NORTH. 

It  appears  that  the  monks  of  the  observance  of  St.  Anthony  and 
St.  Basil,  who  at  first  were  numerous  in  France,  and  possessed  the 
cloister  connected  with  St.  Germain,  were  more  inclined  to  adopt  the 
traditions  of  the  Byzantines  than  were  the  followers  of  St.  Benedict. 
The  order  of  Monte  Casino  gradually  became  more  important ;  it  is 
worthy  of  note  that  the  first  abbot  of  St.  Medard  at  Soissons,  a  cer- 
tain Daniel,  was  a  pupil  of  St.  Maur.  The  successors  of  the  Irish 
missionary  Columbanus,  who  had  come  to  France  in  575,  and,  with 
the  assistance  of  King  Childebert  II.,  had  founded  Luxovium 
(Luxeuil),  Fontanae,  and  Anagratum  in  Burgundy,  could  not  long 
remain  independent  of  the  Benedictines.  The  observances  of  St. 
Benedict  and  St.  Columbanus  were  first  combined  in  Luxeuil  itself, 
and  the  new  rules  were  soon  adopted  by  the  other  cloisters.  The 
cruciform  plan  peculiar  to  the  Franks  was  not,  however,  given  up. 
It  appeared  in  the  Convent  of  the  Cross  near  Meaux,  founded  in 
628  by  Bishop  Faro,  as  well  as  in  almost  all  the  more  important 
cloisters  built  about  the  middle  of  the  seventh  century.  Among 
these  may  be  mentioned  St.  Denis  near  Paris,  and  Centula  (St. 
Riquier)  near  Amiens,  both  of  which  owe  their  existence  to  Dago- 
bert  I. ;  Fontanellum  (Vandrille)  near  Rouen,  founded  in  648  by 
St.  Wandregisel  with  the  assistance  of  Clovis  II.  and  his  wife,  Ba- 
thildis,  and  containing  not  less  than  six  churches;  Gemeticum  (Ju- 
mieges)  near  Rouen,  built  in  655  by  Bathildis  through  the  agency 
of  Filibert,  a  monk  of  Luxeuil,  the  main  church  of  which  is  par- 
ticularly stated  to  have  been  a  cruciform  basilica;  and  finally  Corbie, 
built  in  657  by  the  same  Bathildis,  and  containing  three  churches 
and  as  many  oratories, —  the  direct  influence  of  which  upon  the 
architecture  of  Germany  will  be  referred  to  in  another  chapter. 

There  was  an  architectural  activity  not  less  remarkable  in  the 
countries  upon  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine,  especially  in  and  around 
the  towns  of  Treves,  Cologne,  Mayence,  Speyer,  and  Strasburg.  As 
early  as  the  sixth  century  Treves,  with  its  dependencies  under  the 
bishops  Nicetius  and  Magnaricus,  was  remarkable  for  its  ecclesiasti- 
cal buildings.  Besides  the  before-mentioned  cathedral,  particular 
importance  is  to  be  attached  to  the  Castle  of  Nicetius,  which  prob- 
ably occupied  the  site  of  the  later  Bischofstein.  It  is  praised  by 
the  bishop  Venantius  Fortunatus  of  Poitiers,  who  described  it,  to- 


ARCHITECTURE.  211 

wards  the  close  of  the  sixth  century,  as  a  spacious  and  magnificent 
stronghold,  encircled  by  a  rampart  with  thirty  towers,  and  provided 
with  a  three-storied  watch-tower  as  well  as  with  various  chapelsj 
etc.  Similar  accounts  have  been  handed  down  to  us  concerning 
cloisters  and  churches  built,  during  the  seventh  century,  in  Tholey, 
Mettlach,  Echternach,  Oeren,  and  Pfalzel,  —  all  in  the  diocese  of 
Treves.  In  Mayence,  in  the  sixth  century,  the  bishop  Sidonius 
played  as  important  a  part  as  did  his  contemporary  Nicetius  in 
Treves,  his  architectural  activity  having  been  devoted  not  only  to 
the  erection  of  ecclesiastical  edifices  but  to  the  fortifications  of  the 
Neustadt,  which  were  not  completed  until  the  beginning  of  the 
eighth  century.  This  new  town  had  arisen  near  the  ruins  of  the 
original  Roman  settlement  of  Magontiacum,  which  had  been  de- 
stroyed in  the  year  406.  In  Cologne,  which  remained  one  of  the 
chief  towns  of  Austrasia  until  the  deposition  of  the  Merovingians, 
the  western  polygon  of  St.  Gereon  is  referable  to  the  sixth  century, 
while  the  Church  of  St.  Clement,  outside  the  walls  of  the  city,  is 
assumed  to  have  been  built  towards  the  close  of  the  seventh.  In 
the  diocese  of  Speyer,  the  Church  of  St.  Germain,  outside  the  town, 
and  the  Cloister  of  Weissenburg  on  the  Lutra  were  both  built  dur- 
ing the  seventh  century.  To  the  same  period  belong  St.  Thomas 
in  Strasburg,  founded  by  Scottish  missionaries,  and  the  neighboring 
cloisters  of  Haslach  in  the  Vosges,  of  Muenster  near  Colmar,  Schut- 
tern  near  OfFenburg,  St.  Sigismund  near  Rufach,  and  Mauresmuen- 
ster  near  Saverne. 

In  the  southern  and  eastern  provinces  of  Germany  Christianity 
was  generally  introduced  or  propagated  by  missionaries  from  Ire- 
land. This  was  the  case  with  Bregenz,  where  St.  Columbanus,  who 
had  been  driven  out  of  Burgundy,  restored,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
;venth  century,  the  extremely  ancient  chapel  of  St.  Aurelia;  with 
St.  Gall,  where  a  pupil  of  Columbanus,  St.  Gall,  who  died  in  640, 
erected  the  wooden  cloister  cells  in  the  wilderness;  with  Saeckin- 
jen,  which  at  about  the  same  time  was  chosen  by  the  Irish  monk 
Fridolin  as  his  abode ;  and  with  Fuessen,  where  preached  Magnoald, 
a  pupil  of  Gall.  Farther  eastward  in  Southern  Germany  some  few 
Christian  missionaries  had  erected  their  wooden  hermitages  at  an 
earlier  period.  Chief  among  them  was  St.  Severinus,  the  founder 


212  THE   CHRISTIAN   ART   OF   THE   NORTH. 

of  Kuenzen,  who  died  in  481.  No  cloisters  of  great  extent  were 
built  before  the  seventh  century,  when  Rudpert  of  Worms  received 
from  the  Agilolfing  Duke  of  Bavaria,  Theodo  II.,  the  permission  to 
settle  upon  the  ruins  of  Juvavia  (Salzburg),  where  he  built  the 
Church  of  St.  Peter,  as  well  as  the  nunnery  upon  the  Nonnberg. 
St.  Emmeramnus  and  other  Irish  monks  labored  in  Ratisbon. 

In  all  those  places  where  settlements  of  the  Romans  had  not  ex- 
isted the  cloisters  were  almost  exclusively  constructed  of  beams  of 
oak  and  thatched  with  straw;  this  manner  of  building  (opus  scoticum) 
remained  in  general  use  even  until  the  first  half  of  the  eighth  cen- 
tury, at  which  time  houses  of  masonry  existed  only  at  St.  Gall, 
Fulda,  and  Lorsch.  The  convents  continued  to  increase  in  number 
and  importance,  the  most  noteworthy  among  them  being  St.  Gall. 
The  Abbot  Otmar,  A.  D.  720  to  760,  replaced  the  wooden  cell  of 
St.  Gall  by  a  "  palatium,"  and  built  the  great  Basilica  of  St.  Paul 
with  stone  walls  and  with  a  crypt  under  the  choir.  This  crypt  must 
have  been  the  earliest  example  of  its  kind,  unless  we  may  assume, 
with  Viollet-le-Duc,  that  the  chambers  in  the  basement  of  the  semi- 
nary at  Orleans  are  to  be  ascribed  to  the  sixth  century.  It  is  cer- 
tain that  the  buildings  in  Lorsch  on  the  Waschnitz,  founded  in  the 
year  763  by  Count  Cancor,  were  of  stone,  this  material  having  been 
employed  for  the  basilica  from  the  first,  while  the  wooden  dwellings 
of  the  monks  were  replaced  by  masonry  at  the  end  of  the  eighth 
century.  And  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  a  construction  of  masonry 
was  adopted  for  the  churches  of  Mayence,  at  least  for  those  writhin 
the  town,  which  were  built  during  the  latter  half  of  the  eighth  cen- 
tury;  chief  among  these  were  the  Church  of  St.  Martin,  which  after- 
wards became  the  cathedral,  and  the  Church  of  St.  Lambert.  The 
same  was  probably  the  case  with  the  churches  of  St.  Martin  and 
of  St.  Mary  of  the  Capitol  in  Cologne,  the  former  founded  by  Pipin 
Heristal,  the  latter  probably  by  his  wife  Plectrudis ;  and  also  with 
the  convent  churches  founded  by  Pipin  II.,  A.  D.  762,  in  Pruem  and 
Kesslingen. 

The  cathedral  and  the  churches  of  St.  Benedict  and  St.  Stephen 
in  Freising,  erected  by  the  bishop  Corbinian,  who  had  been  conse- 
crated in  Rome  about  724,  were  originally  of  wood,  and  were  not  re- 
built in  masonry  until  the  end  of  the  eighth  century.  It  may  hence 


ARCHITECTURE.  213 

be  supposed  that  the  greater  number  of  the  cloisters  in  Bavaria  and 
Upper  Austria  were  likewise  timbered  constructions ;  among  these 
are  Benedictbeuren,  Wessobrunn,  Staffelsee,  Kochelsee,  Scharnitz, 
Schlehdorf,  Scheftlarn,  Tegernsee,  Schliersee,  Ilmmuenster,  Alto- 
muenster,  Rott,  Metten,  and  Weltenburg,  and  the  cloisters  of  Herren 
and  Frauen  Chiemsee,  said  to  have  been  built  by  Thassilo,  and  be- 
longing to  the  diocese  of  Salzburg ;  furthermore  the  dependencies 
of  the  bishopric  of  Lorch,  which  was  removed  to  Passau  after  the  in- 
vasion of  the  Avars  in  738, — namely,  Niedernburg,  Niederaltaich,  Os- 
terhofen,  Pfaffenmuenster,  Monsee,  Kremsmuenster,  and  St.  Florian ; 
those  of  this  list  now  belonging  to  Austria  were  particularly  favored 
by  their  founder  Thassilo.  To  this  category  belong  also  most  of 
the  cloisters  in  the  countries  of  the  Upper  Rhine,  dependent  upon 
St.  Gall  or  the  Bishopric  of  Strasburg:  Reichenau,  on  an  island 
in  the  Lake  of  Constance,  Luetzelau,  similarly  situated  in  the  Lake 
of  Zurich,  Marchthal,  Kempten,  Hohenburg,  Niedermuenster,  Ebers- 
heimmuenster,  Maasmuenster,  Honau,  Ettenheimmuenster,  Surburg, 
Schwarzach,  Neuweiler,  Leberau,  St.  Hippolyte,  and  Murbach. 

The  buildings  which  were  erected  in  Hesse,  in  connection  with 
the  mission  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Winifrid  (St.  Boniface),  were,  with- 
out question,  of  wood.  Among  them  may  be  mentioned  the  cells 
of  the  monks  upon  the  Amanaburg,  built  in  722,  the  cloister  and 
church  of  St.  Peter  upon  the  heights  of  the  Buraburg,  about  ten 
years  later,  and  the  ecclesiastical  houses  of  Christenberg,  Ohrdruf, 
Altenberg,  Herbsleben,  Uhrleben,  Langensalza,  Trettenburg,  Greus- 
sen,  Monra,  and  Creuzberg.  It  is  recorded  that  the  Chapel  of  St. 
Peter  near  Fritzlar  was  constructed  of  the  wood  of  Wotan's  Oak, 
which  was  felled  in  724.  The  Cloister  of  Fulda  was  the  first  to  be 
built,  in  part  at  least,  of  masonry,  the  Church  of  St.  Saviour  con- 
nected with  it  having  been  entirely  of  stone,  but  this  construction 
was  as  late  as  A.  D.  755,  the  year  of  the  martyrdom  of  St.  Boniface. 
The  pre-eminence  of  Fulda  was  due  to  the  important  character  of 
the  town,  which  had  four  thousand  inhabitants  even  at  the  time  of 
the  first  abbot  Sturmius,  and  was  the  chief  centre  of  primitive  Chris- 
tianity in  Middle  Germany.  It  is  possible  that  the  mortuary  chapel 
upon  the  Petersberg,  consisting  of  three  aisles  and  a  transverse  por- 
tico, all  covered  with  barrel-vaults,  was  built  during  the  eighth  cen- 


214  THE   CHRISTIAN   ART   OF   THE   NORTH. 

tury.  The  most  important  dependency  of  Fulda  was  the  bishopric 
of  Wurzburg,  where,  upon  the  Schlossberg,  there  may  still  be  seen 
the  ruins  of  an  ancient  Church  of  the  Virgin,  which  was,  without 
doubt,  built  during  the  eighth  century, — at  the  time  when  the  Irish 
monk  Kilian  was  propagating  Christianity  in  Thuringia  and  Fran- 
conia.  Kitzingen  and  Tauberbischofsheim  were  probably  founded 
by  Burghard,  the  first  bishop  of  Wurzburg,  whose  diocese  had  been 
greatly  extended  by  Karlmann.  Eichstaedt  flourished  under  its  first 
bishop  Willibald,  the  nephew  and  pupil  of  Winifrid,  and  in  the 
eighth  century  there  arose  in  its  neighborhood  the  establishments 
of  Heidenheim,  Hasenried,  Wilzburg,  and  Solenhofen,  the  last  of 
which  was  named  after  the  English  missionary  Sola.  Erfurt,  al- 
though chosen  by  St.  Boniface  as  the  seat  of  a  bishop,  did  not  be- 
come important  until  a  century  after  its  foundation  ;  while  the 
Cloister  of  Buraburg,  at  first  of  some  eminence,  was  soon  incorpo- 
rated into  the  more  favorably  situated  Fritzlar. 

It  is  not  strange  that  almost  no  remains  of  buildings  antedating 
the  Carolingian  age  should  have  been  preserved  to  the  present  day, 
for  the  masonry,  which  was  of  rubble  cast  in  thick  mortar,  was  in 
many  cases  not  more  enduring  than  wood-work.  Walls  of  this  kind 
were  invariably  destroyed  when  new  structures  were  erected  upon 
their  site  during  the  Romanic  epoch.  Both  methods  of  building 
were  exceedingly  rough, — the  wood-work  being  a  simple  block  con- 
struction, the  masonry  entirely  plain,  while  the  roofing  was  of  irreg- 
ular shingles  weighted  with  stones,  or  of  straw  thatch.  Even  in 
those  provinces  of  Western  Germany,  Northern  France,  Spain,  and 
England,  which  had  been  occupied  by  the  Romans,  the  traditions  of 
antique  art  had  been  almost  entirely  forgotten.  When  ancient  ar- 
chitectural ornaments  or  hewn  stones  were  employed,  they  were 
arranged  in  a  fashion  even  more  barbarous  than  that  observable  in 
the  later  basilicas  of  Rome,  the  only  attempt  at  design  being  a 
rhythmical  variation  of  the  courses.  The  most  noteworthy  examples 
in  France  arfe  the  Baptistery  of  Poitiers  (Fig.  1 1 2),  which  probably 
dates  to  this  period,  the  ancient  Basilica  of  Beauvais,  known  as  the 
Basse-Oeuvre,  and  the  two  churches  of  Savennieres  and  Gennes  in  the 
Departments  of  the  Maine  and  the  Loire.  The  interior  adornments, 
fine  marbles,  metals,  and  carpets  were  at  times  of  some  importance- 


ARCHITECTURE. 


215 


but  the  carvings  were  chiefly  antique  remains,  amassed  without  order 
or  artistic  significance,  while  the  works  of  other  materials,  however 
great  their  intrinsic  value,  are  rather  to  be  classed  as  furnishings  than 
as  organic  parts  of  the  structure.  The  methods  of  Roman  art  had 
been  entirely  lost  in  England,  where,  after  the  conversion  of  the 
country,  commenced  A.D.  597  under  Pope  Gregory  the  Great,  the 
first  churches  were  built  of  wood,  as  in  Germany.  The  stone  edi- 
fices which  St.  Paulinus  erected  in  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  cen- 
tury at  Lincoln  and  York  were  exceptional ;  and  the  appearance  of 
such  structures  was  limited 
to  towns  previously  occupied 
by  the  Romans,  York,  for  in- 
stance,  having  been  a  place 
of  considerable  importance  in 
the  time  of  Septimius  Seve- 
rus.  Towards  the  end  of  the 
seventh  century  masons  were 
brought  to  England  from 
France  and  even  from  Rome, 
and  accounts  have  been  pre- 
served to  us  of  buildings 
erected  by  them  of  hewn 
stones  ("  opus  romanum "), 
but  there  is  never  mention 
of  architects  or  of  an  artistic 
design.  Neither  the  scholas-  Fig.  112.— The  Baptistery  of  Poitiers, 

ticism  which  in  the   eighth 

century  began  to  be  cultivated  by  the  cloisters  of  England,  nor  the 
religious  fervor  which  had  long  existed  in  Ireland,  had  been  accom- 
panied by  any  noteworthy  architectural  activity. 

In  Germany  princes,  bishops,  abbots,  and  missionaries  labored 
together  to  erect  the  necessary  ecclesiastical  buildings,  but  it  does 
not  appear,  from  the  few  accounts  which  have  been  handed  down 
to  us,  that  the  same  attention  was  devoted  to  the  domestic  archi- 
tecture of  the  country.  The  ruins  of  Roman  castles  which  were 
available  were  occupied  by  the  nobles,  who  repaired  their  walls  of 
hewn  stone  with  a  wretched  masonry  of  rubble  and  mortar.  This 


2l6  THE   CHRISTIAN   ART   OF   THE   NORTH. 

was  the  case  in  Hohenburg  near  Strasburg,  in  Egisheim  near  Col- 
mar,  and  probably  also  in  the  bishoprics  of  Salzburg  and  Passau. 
When  castles  were  built  entirely  anew  they  were  seldom  planned 
as  fortifications, — the  rulers,  like  their  vassals,  living  in  open  granges. 
Princely  or  episcopal  castles  upon  elevations,  as  at  Wurzburg  and 
Freising,  had  become  exceptional  after  the  age  of  Bishop  Nicetius 
of  Treves,  at  least  in  those  towns  which  had  not  originally  been 
built  by  the  Romans. 

This  unfavorable  condition  of  architecture  was  in  accordance 
with  the  troublous  times  of  the  last  Merovingian  kings.  A  great 
advance  was  at  once  made  upon  the  accession  of  the  Carolingian 
dynasty  to  the  Prankish  throne,  especially  after  Charlemagne,  A.  D. 
768  to  814,  had  elevated  his  empire  to  the  first  power  in  Christen- 
dom. Not  less  remarkable  for  his  furtherance  of  learning  than  for 
his  successes  in  politics  and  warfare,  Charlemagne  had  early  brought 
scholars  to  his  court  even  from  countries  beyond  the  wide  extent 
of  his  realm.  His  campaigns  in  Italy  had  made  him  familiar  with 
the  greatest  works  of  imperial  Roman,  as  well  as  of  early  Christian 
and  Byzantine  art.  It  was  not  strange  that,  like  Constantine  before 
him,  he  should  have  conceived  the  idea  of  creating  a  new  Rome  in 
the  centre  of  his  empire,  so  as  to  make  the  capital  which  he  had 
chosen  for  himself  and  his  successors  the  worthy  seat  of  a  new  line 
of  emperors. 

The  entire  loss  of  the  artistic  traditions  of  classical  times  ren- 
dered the  accomplishment  of  this  design  far  more  difficult  than 
it  would  have  been  three  centuries  previous.  Intelligent  architects, 
many  of  whom  had  acquired  their  training  in  Italy,  were  not  lack- 
ing, but  the  execution  was  necessarily  confided  to  hands  entirely 
unskilled.  It  is  difficult  to  say  what  value  should  be  attached  to 
the  experience  gained  by  the  Franks  during  the  construction  of  the 
extensive  cloister  of  Fontanellum  (Vandrille)  near  Rouen,  by  the 
abbot  Gervold  after  A.  D.  787,  or  of  the  buildings  erected  at  Fulda 
by  the  abbot  Sturmius.  Certain  it  is  that  Charlemagne  was  not 
able  to  find  a  sufficient  number  of  workmen  in  his  own  provinces, 
as  we  are  informed  that  he  brought  artisans  from  all  the  countries 
"  this  side  of  the  sea," — that  is  to  say,  from  all  parts  of  southern 
Europe  with  the  exception  of  the  Byzantine  and  the  Moorish  em- 


ARCHITECTURE.  2I/ 

pires.  Hewn  stones  were  brought  from  the  town  of  Verdun,  which 
had  been  demolished  by  Charlemagne;  and  so  entire  was  the  in- 
ability  of  the  Franks  to  design  the  interior  decorations,  that  they 
not  only  collected  the  few  Roman  vestiges  remaining  at  Treves, 
but  even  brought  mosaics,  revetments  of  marble,  and  columns  from 
Ravenna  and  Rome.  Unfortunately,  the  poetical  description  given 
by  Angilbert  of  the  architectural  activity  which  began  in  796  at 
Aix-la-Chapelle  is  hyperbolical  and  untrustworthy ;  still  it  is  cer- 
tain that  the  monuments  of  Charlemagne  comprised  all  the  public 
buildings  of  the  city.  Among  these  were  the  forum,  a  town-hall, 
baths,  and  a  theatre  (probably  an  amphitheatre),  halls  for  other 
civic  purposes  and  the  fortifications  of  the  town  being  included 
as  a  matter  of  course.  The  chief  importance  was  assigned  to 
the  palace,  and  to  the  church  which  stood  in  connection  with  it. 
This  last  has  been  preserved  in  its  most  important  parts,  and  the 
period  of  its  construction  is  known  with  certainty  to  have  been  the 
years  between  796  and  804.  The  Minster  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  is  thus 
by  far  the  most  important  monument  of  the  North  antedating  the 
Romanic  period. 

The  architecture  of  Ravenna  was  more  directly  imitated  in 
Aix-la-Chapelle  than  was  that  of  Rome,  this  choice  having  un- 
doubtedly been  made  by  the  emperor  himself,  to  whom  the  entire 
conception  was  due.  We  have  no  positive  information  concern- 
ing the  designers  to  whom  was  confided  the  technical  execution 
of  these  edifices,  —  the  first  monuments  of  independent  artistic 
interest  erected  in  Europe  after  an  inactivity  of  more  than  three 
centuries.  Tradition  names  in  this  connection  Ansegius  (Ansegi- 
sus),  afterwards  Abbot  of  Lobies  and  of  Fontanellum,  and,  as  his 
successor,  Eginhard,  the  biographer  of  Charlemagne,  who  was  edu- 
:ated  in  Fulda.  Ansegius  is  once  mentioned  as  exactor  operum 
regalhim;  and  Eginhard  speaks  in  his  letters  of  having  studied  the 
writings  of  Vitruvius,  conferred  with  the  Abbot  Batgar  of  Fulda, — 
limself  a  builder  of  some  experience, — concerning  the  works  of  the 
Loman  architect,  and  received  from  his  friends  the  sobriquet  of 
Bezaleel,  after  the  builder  of  the  Biblical  tabernacle.  It  appears 
more  probable  that  the  superintendence  of  the  minster  was  con- 
fided to  an  otherwise  unknown  "  Master  Odo,"  whose  name  was 


2i8  THE   CHRISTIAN   ART   OF   THE   NORTH. 

given  by  an  inscription  in  the  church  which  remained  until  the 
tenth  century.  It  is  not  known  whether  this  architect  was  respon- 
sible for  the  design. 

The  plan  (Fig.  113)  can  in  no  wise  be  considered  as  either  orig- 
inal or  artistic.  It  followed  in  the  main  the  arrangement  of  San 
Vitale,  while  influenced  perhaps  in  some  degree  by  the  old  Cathe- 
dral of  Brescia.*  The  changes  introduced  were  either  rendered 
necessary  by  the  new  requirements,  or  resulted  from  the  endeavor 
to  obtain  a  greater  simplicity,  and  were  by  no  means  advantageous 
from  an  aesthetic  point  of  view.  It  is  plain  that  the  chief  desire 
of  the  builders  of  the  minster  was  to  equal  the  models,  at  least  in 
technical  respects ;  and  in  view  of  their  want  of  experience,  and 
the  great  difficulties  presented  by  the  construction  of  the  cupola, 
the  performance  is  certainly  most  creditable.  Probably  with  the 
intention  of  separating  the  lower  story  of  the  church,  which  was 
accessible  to  the  public,  from  the  galleries  reserved  for  the  imperial 
court,  the  dome  and  octagon,  greatly  resembling  the  corresponding 
parts  of  S.  Vitale,  were  elevated  upon  a  simple  arcade  of  piers.  This 
comparatively  low  substructure  is  connected  with  the  sixteen-sided 
outer  wall  by  a  complicated  system  of  vaulting,  cross-vaults  being 
introduced  between  the  eight  sides  of  the  central  structure  and  the 
corresponding  sides  of  the  enclosure,  while  the  eight  triangles  re- 
maining were  covered  with  tripartite  vaults,  as  in  the  Cathedral  of 
Brescia.  This  was  an  effective  construction  of  considerable  diffi- 
culty for  that  period,  and  the  vaulting  of  the  upper  story  was  even 
more  ingenious  and  significant.  The  eight  main  arches  were  not 
enlarged  by  an  equal  number  of  apses,  as  in  S.  Vitale,  probably 
from  a  desire  to  decrease  the  practical  difficulties  by  a  simplifica- 
tion of  the  plan,  and  to  avoid  an  interference  with  the  space  pro- 
vided by  the  gallery.  In  Ravenna  the  side  thrust  of  the  cupola 
had  been  ingeniously  counteracted  by  the  eight  conches  terminat- 
ing the  apses  of  the  upper  story ;  to  produce  a  similar  effect  in 
the  Minster  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  the  galleries  were  covered  by  eight 
barrel-vaults,  inclined  against  the  walls  which  supported  the  central 
dome,  while  in  the  remaining  triangles  there  resulted  a  complicated 

*  Quite  recently  proved  to  be  of  later  date.     (Art.  D.  Scavi,  Sept.,  1885.) 


ARCHITECTURE. 


219 


kind  of  rampant  conical  vaults.  The  principle  here  involved  was 
that  of  the  flying  buttress,  the  further  development  of  which,  by  the 
architects  of  the  Gothic  style,  was  destined  to  become  of  so  great 
importance.  The  aesthetic  treatment  of  the  interior  by  no  means 


...  .     .     . 


Fig.  113. — Plan  and  Section  of  the  Minster  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  (original  arrangement). 

kept  step  with  the  constructive  advance  of  this  arrangement,  the 
ceiling  not  being  of  a  pleasing  form,  while  the  two  stories  of  col- 
umns introduced  into  the  main  arches  were  delusive.  As  the  space 
remaining  was  not  sufficient  for  the  introduction  of  the  smaller  ar- 


220  THE   CHRISTIAN   ART   OF   THE   NORTH. 

cades  above  the  upper  columns,  these  supports  were  so  placed  that 
their  capitals  abutted  directly  upon  the  intrados  of  the  main  arch, 
in  a  manner  entirely  contrary  to  the  principles  of  columnar  con- 
struction. The  eight  walls  of  the  octagon  were  carried  up  so  high 
that  the  windows  were  placed  in  the  drum  and  not,  as  in  S.  Vitale, 
in  the  curve  of  the  dome.  As  there  was  no  transition  between 
the  octagon  and  the  impost  of  the  dome,  which  was  continued  as 
an  octagonal  vault,  all  pendentives  were  avoided. 

The  architectural  style  of  the  minster,  like  its  plan,  evinces  prac- 
tical intelligence  rather  than  artistic  taste.  The  masonry,  though 
solid,  was  rough,  and  executed  wholly  without  reference  to  its  ap- 
pearance ;  the  columns,  cornices,  and  other  members  were  few,  and 
exceedingly  simple.  There  was  no  attempt  to  equalize  the  columns, 
which  were  brought  from  various  places  and  were  of  very  different 
dimensions ;  as  long  as  they  were  of  valuable  material,  no  attention 
was  paid  to  the  design  of  the  bases  and  capitals,  which  were  partly 
Corinthian  and  partly  composite.  The  cornices,  executed  at  the 
time  of  the  building,  were  exceedingly  rude.  The  bronze  work  of 
the  balustrades  and  doors  was  of  a  somewhat  higher  character,  and 
will  be  described  subsequently,  in  connection  with  the  paintings 
and  mosaics  which  formed  the  interior  decorations.  It  is  not  cer- 
tain whether  the  tomb  of  the  emperor  was  intended  to  occupy  the 
centre  of  the  octagon.  The  apse  was  replaced  in  the  fourteenth 
century  by  a  disproportionately  tall  Gothic  choir ;  while  the  tower 
upon  the  eastern  side,  at  least  in  its  upper  parts,  has  been  entirely 
changed  in  appearance.  Indeed,  all  the  exterior,  with  the  exception 
of  the  buttresses  terminated  by  capitals,  between  the  windows  of 
the  drum,  has  suffered  so  much  from  additions  and  reconstructions 
dating  to  the  most  various  periods  that  it  is  now  impossible  to 
judge  of  its  original  effect.  Eight  of  the  columns  from  the  interior, 
which  were  carried  away  by  the  French  and  not  returned,  have  been 
replaced  by  new  ones,  and  many  other  parts  of  the  structure  have 
been  recently  restored. 

The  Imperial  Palace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  has  disappeared  without 
a  trace.  It  was  probably  an  aggregate  of  separate  buildings  grouped 
around  one  or  more  courts.  An  anonymous  writer  of  the  time,  a 
monk  of  St.  Gall,  relates  that  the  quarters  of  the  imperial  suite,  the 


ARCHITECTURE.  221 

lower  stories  of  which  were  open  arcades,  were  so  disposed  upon  all 
sides  of  the  dwelling  of  the  emperor  that  the  monarch  could  observe 
the  movements  of  his  retinue  from  the  upper  windows.  But  scanty 
vestiges  remain  of  the  other  palaces  built  by  Charlemagne  at  Ingel- 
heim,  Nymwegen,  Frankfort,  Worms,  and  Tribur.  That  of  Ingelheim 
seems  to  have  been  the  most  extensive  and  magnificent  of  these  edi- 
fices, although  little  value  can  be  attached  to  the  accounts  of  its 
hundred  columns  and  thousand  doors  given  by  a  Carolingian  poet- 
laureate.  The  few  remains  of  these  columns  now  preserved  in  the 
museum  and  the  cathedral  of  Mayence,  in  the  court  of  the  Castle 
of  Heidelberg,  and  in  Ingelheim  itself,  show  that  there  was  as  little 
attempt  to  attain  to  a  national  independence  in  artistic  respects 
in  the  Palace  of  Ingelheim  as  in  the  Minster  of  Aix-la-Chapelle, — 
thus  offering  another  proof  that  the  Carolingian  architecture  had  no 
other  aim  than  to  revive  the  Roman  style.  The  imperial  villa  at 
Nymwegen  was,  in  greater  part,  burned  by  the  Normans  as  early  as 
A.D.  880;  nevertheless,  it  remained  habitable  and  was  restored  by 
Frederick  Barbarossa.  The  polygonal  chapel  of  the  palace,  the  only 
part  of  the  edifice  saved  from  demolition  after  the  bombardment  by 
the  French  in  1794,  was  built  during  the  time  of  Barbarossa,  but 
probably  retained  the  plan -and  imitated  the  details  of  the  original 
Carolingian  structure,  as  is  evident  from  the  form  of  its  capitals  and 
bases,  the  bulging  shafts  of  the  columns,  and  especially  from  the 
general  appearance  of  the  whole  being  that  of  a  simplified  repro- 
duction of  the  Imperial  Minster  on  a  small  scale. 

In  view  of  the  sensation  made  by  the  Minster  of  Aix-la-Chapelle 
at  the  time  of  its  construction,  it  is  not  strange  that  its  plan  should 
have  been  imitated  more  or  less  exactly,  not  only  during  the  lifetime 
of  its  founder,  as  at  Nymwegen,  but  also  in  later  years.  According 
to  ancient  descriptions,  the  Court  Chapel  which  was  built  by  Louis 
the  Pious  at  Diedenhofen  (Thionville  or  Theodonis  Villa),  was  a  re- 
duced copy  of  the  minster,  and  the  same  was  probably  the  case  with 
the  Church  of  St.  Walburgis  in  Grceningen.  The  design  was  repeated 
in  the  choir  of  the  nuns  in  the  Abbey  Church  of  Essen,  which  was 
founded  in  874  and  rebuilt  after  the  fire  of  947.  Only  the  central 
Hvision  of  the  apse  now  remains  in  its  original  form  (Fig.  1 14).  The 
tories  which  are  indicated  by  the  columns  standing  in  the  arches 


222  THE  CHRISTIAN   ART   OF   THE   NORTH. 

are  not  fictitious,  as  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  the  building  being  provided 
with  a  double  gallery.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  polygon  does 
not  reach  the  height  of  the  main  arch,  and  is  hence  surmounted  by 
a  conch,  which  intersects  with  the  extrados  of  the  subsidiary  arches, 

replacing  the  spandrels. 
The  circular  structure  of 
the  Church  of  St.  John  at 
Liege,  built  by  Bishop 
Notker  in  981,  exhibits 
similar  reminiscences,  not- 
withstanding its  recon- 
struction in  the  rococo 
style  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  The  choir  of 
the  nuns  in  the  western 
tower  of  the  Romanic 
Church  of  St.  Mary  of  the 
Capitol  in  Cologne,  which 
was  dedicated  in  1050,  dis- 
plays the  same  influence, 
one  of  its  arches,  now 
hidden  by  the  organ,  hav- 
ing columns  arranged  like 
those  of  the  Minster  of 
Aix-la-Chapelle.  The 
closest  resemblance  to  the 
plan  of  the  minster  is 
the  polygonal  church  of 
Ottmarsheim,  near  Muehl- 
hausen,  in  Elsass,  which 
dates  from  the  same  peri- 
od as  the  last-mentioned 
church  of  Cologne  (Figs.  115  and  116). 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Church  of  St.  Germigny-les- Pres  in 
the  Department  of  Loiret,  which  is  mentioned  in  the  tenth  cen- 
tury as  an  imitation  of  the  Carolingian  court  church,  differs  from 
it  in  many  respects,  and  by  its  cruciform  plan  rather  resembles 


Fig.  114.— Restored  View  of  the  Choir  of  the  Nuns 
in  the  Abbey  Church  of  Essen. 


ARCHITECTURE. 


223 


the  ecclesiastical  edifices  of  Byzantium.  This  building,  erected  by 
Bishop  Theodulph  of  Orleans  during  the  lifetime  of  Charlemagne, 
has  a  double  interest,  be- 
ing the  prototype  of  St. 
Front  in  Perigueux,  and 
of  other  buildings  of 
France  which  are  of  this 
peculiar  disposition,  and 
displaying  in  the  apses 
of  the  transepts  an  ar- 
rangement of  plan  sim- 
ilar to  that  which  ap- 
pears fully  developed  in 
the  Church  of  the  Apos- 
tles and  in  that  of  St. 
Mary  of  the  Capitol  in 
Cologne. 

The  many  churches 
and  cloisters  which  were 
built  during  the  epoch  of 
Charlemagne  were  gener- 
ally imitated  from  Italian 
and  more  especially  Ro- 
man models.  This  was 
the  case  with  the  two 
most  important  French 
convents  of  that  time — 
Centula  (St.  Riquier)  in 
Picardy,  and  Fontanel- 
lum  (Vandrille)  in  Nor- 
mandy, both  enlarged  and 
reconstructed  by  friends 
f  the  emperor :  the  for- 
mer by  Angilbert,  the  lat- 
ter by  Ansegius.  The 
convent  churches,  which 

- 


Fig.  115. — View  of  the  Interior  of  the  Church  of 
Ottmarsheim. 


Fig.  116. — Plan  of  the  Church  of  Ottmarsheim. 

ere  numerous — Vandrille,  for  instance,  possessing  not  less  than 


224  THE  CHRISTIAN  ART  OF  THE   NORTH. 

eight  — were  usually  large  basilicas.  In  Germany,  Fulda  and  St. 
Gall  corresponded  in  importance  to  the  before-mentioned  cloisters 
in  France ;  they  are  of  superior  interest,  because  known  to  us  through 
especially  explicit  and  trustworthy  descriptions. 

The  Convent  of  Fulda,  under  the  Abbot  Sturmius,  a  pupil  of  St. 
Boniface,  was  the  most  important  establishment  of  its  kind  in  Ger- 
many, even  at  the  time  of  the  accession  of  Charlemagne.  Baugulf, 
the  successor  of  Sturmius,  was  obliged  because  of  the  increasing 
population  of  Fulda  to  enlarge  the  Church  of  the  Saviour  by  an 
extension  upon  the  eastern  side  and  by  a  transept ;  while  Ratgar, 
who  was  created  abbot  in  803,  and  who  had  previously  been  em- 
ployed as  an  architect,  added  a  western  apse,  devoting  so  much 
attention  to  these  constructions  that  the  wearied  monks  revolted 
against  being  continually  employed  as  masons.  We  have  no  cer- 
tain knowledge  as  to  when  and  where  the  important  innovation  of 
the  double  choir,  retained  in  the  larger  churches  throughout  the 
entire  Romanic  epoch,  was  introduced,  but  we  may  assume  the 
work  of  Ratgar  to  have  been  the  first  step  in  this  direction.  It  is 
difficult  to  decide  whether  the  western  apse  was  originally  intended 
as  the  tomb  of  the  founder  of  the  church, — like  that  of  St.  Boniface 
in  Fulda,  and  that  of  the  Basilica  of  St.  Reparatus  at  Orleansville, 
in  Africa,  which  was  added  as  the  mortuary  chapel  of  a  bishop, — 
or  whether  this  duplication  was  designed  to  provide  two  main  altars, 
consecrated  in  honor  of  two  patrons.  Perhaps  the  fact  that  the 
cloisters  adjoined  one  of  the  long  sides  of  the  basilica  led  to  the 
treatment  of  the  other  as  the  chief  fagade.  Many  Romanic  churches 
had  their  main  portal  in  this  position,  in  which  case  it  was  natural 
to  develop  the  plan  of  the  two  ends  entirely  alike.  The  greatly  in- 
creased number  of  the  clergy  in  the  cloisters  and  the  churches  of 
the  bishoprics  rendered  it  necessary,  moreover,  to  duplicate  the  cen- 
tres of  the  religious  ceremonies  by  providing  two  altars.  An  impor- 
tant alteration  of  the  general  arrangement  was  made  by  elevating 
the  choir,  and  constructing  beneath  it  a  crypt,  containing  an  altar. 
This  disposition  first  appeared  in  St.  Gall,  but  was  adopted  as  early 
as  819  at  Fulda,  in  both  ends  of  the  basilica,  the  tomb  of  St.  Boni- 
face, which  was  much  frequented  by  pilgrims,  corresponding  to  the 
altar  and  reliquary  of  the  eastern  crypt. 


ARCHITECTURE. 


225 


The  example  presented  by  the  baptisteries  and  mortuary  ro- 
tundas which  had  been  adjoined  to  the  larger  basilicas  of  Italy  led 
to  the  addition  of  domed  edifices  to  the  more  important  cloisters. 
Such  a  structure  appears  in  the  primitive  plan  of  Fontanellum.  A 
vaulted  hall  of  a  similar  kind  was  built  in  820  in  the  Convent  of 
Fulda  (Fig.  1 17),  under  Eigil,  the  fourth  abbot  of  this  establishment, 
probably  having  been  founded  by  Rabanus  Maurus,  a  great  patron 
of  the  arts,  who  died  in  856  as  Archbishop  of  Mayence.  It  was  orig- 
inally intended  as  the  tomb  of  the  abbots,  and  was  without  doubt 
built  in  imitation  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  at  Jerusalem, 


Fig.  117.— Plan  of  the  Chapel  of  St.  Michael  in  Fulda. 
a.  Ground-plan.  b.  Crypt. 

and  of  such  concentric  structures  as  the  Church  of  St.  Luke,  re- 
cently discovered  in  the  neighborhood  of  Ephesos,  perhaps  also  be- 
ing influenced  in  some  degree  by  the  Constantine  funeral  monuments 
and  baptisteries  of  Rome.  At  all  events,  the  building  has  no  resem- 
blance to  the  Byzantine  cupolas  of  Ravenna.  The  cylindrical  wall 
of  the  central  space,  upon  which  rested  the  dome,  is  supported  by 
eight  columns,  with  capitals  of  the  Corinthian  and  composite  orders 
(Fig.  1 1 8  a  and  c),  connected  by  archivolts.  Beneath  this  superstruct- 
ure was  a  crypt  of  equal  diameter,  in  the  middle  of  which  a  thick 
column,  roughly  imitating  the  Ionic  forms  (Fig.  118  b},  supported 
the  encircling  barrel-vault ;  similar  vaults  covered  the  surrounding 

15 


226 


THE  CHRISTIAN   ART   OF   THE    NORTH. 


passage.     Notwithstanding  later  additions  and  reconstructions,  the 
plan  and  details  clearly  exhibit  the  influences  of  the  early  Christian 

art  of  Italy. 

Even  more  important  than  the  Convent  of  Fulda  was  that  of 
St.  Gall,  the  buildings  of  which  have,  indeed,  experienced  so  many 
alterations  that  no  understanding  of  its  original  arrangement  can 
now  be  obtained  from  them,  but  which  nevertheless,  through  the  dis- 
covery of  the  original  plan,  has  become  the  best-known  cloister  of  the 
Carolingian  epoch.  This  design  appears  not  to  have  been  entirely 
carried  into  execution,  perhaps  because  of  difficulties  presented  by 


Fig.  nS. — Details  of  Columns  from  the  Chapel  of  St.  Michael  in  Fulda. 

the  conformation  of  the  ground,  yet  it  is  nevertheless  of  the  most 
signal  importance  to  architectural  history.  St.  Gall  had  somewhat 
declined  with  the  increasing  prosperity  of  Fulda,  but,  through  the 
patronage  of  Louis  the  Pious,  its  abbot,  Gozbert,  A.  D.  816  to  832, 
was  enabled  to  undertake  an  extensive  reconstruction,  for  which  the 
plan  in  question  was  drawn  by  an  anonymous  architect,  who  very 
possibly  had  stood  in  some  connection  with  the  establishment  of 
Fulda.  The  large  drawing  upon  two  sheets  of  parchment  (Fig.  1 19) 
displays,  in  the  characteristic  draughtsmanship  of  the  Carolingian 
epoch,  all  the  complicated  arrangement  of  a  cloister  of  that  period. 
The  main  approach  leads  between  a  variety  of  farm  buildings  to  the 


ARCHITECTURE. 


227 


western  front  of  a  large  basilica.     This  is  provided  with  two  choirs, 
like  that  of  Fulda,  and  with  two  towers,  disposed  symmetrically  at 


Fig.  119. — The  Carolingian  Cloister  Plan  of  St.  Gall. 


Principal  Entrance. 
Principal  Church. 
Altar  of  St.  Paul.  [lus. 

Altar  of  St.  Mary  and  St.  Gal- 
Entrance  to  the  Crypt. 
Choir  for  the  Singers. 
Pulpit. 

Altar  of  the  Cross. 
Altar  of  St.  John. 
Baptismal  Font. 
Western  Choir. 
Altar  of  St.  Peter. 
Western  Paradisus. 
Almonry. 

Vestibule  for  the  Brethren. 
Vestibule  for  the  School  Chil- 
dren. 

Tower  of  St.  Gabriel. 
Tower  of  St.  Michael. 
Doorkeeper's  Lodge. 
Prefect  of  the  School. 
Waiting-room  for  Guests. 
Library  and  Writing-room. 
Eastern  Paradisus. 
Sacristy  and  Vestry,     [ments. 
Tabernacle     for     the     Sacra- 
Convent. 
Cloister. 


6l.  Chapter-house. 
cl.  Conversatorium. 
tP.   Dwelling  of  the  Monks. 
el.  Refectory. 
_/*.  Lavatory. 
fl.  Latrines. 
/*'.   Kitchen. 
»'.  Cellar  and  Storehouse. 

D.  House    for    Mendicants    and 

Pilgrims,  with  Kitchen  and 
Brewery. 

E.  House  for  Guests, with  Kitchen, 

Cellar,  Brewery,  and  Bakery. 

F.  School-house. 

G.  Dwelling   of  the  Abbot,  with 

Kitchen,  Cellar,  and  Bakery. 

H.  Double  Chapel. 

<za.  Chapel  for  the  Novices. 

6*.  Chapel  for  the  Sick. 

J.  Infirmary. 

a3.  Kitchen  and  Bath. 

33.  Dwelling  of  the  Physician. 

c3.  Garden  for  Medicinal  Herbs. 

d3.  House  for  Cupping  and  Pur- 
gation. 

K.  School  for  the  Novices. 

a4.  Kitchen  and  Bath  for  the 
Novices. 


L.  Cemetery. 

M.  Garden. 

a6.  House  of  the  Gardener. 

£5  Vegetable  Garden. 

N.  Poultry-yard. 

a*.  House  of  the  Keeper. 

i*.  Hennery. 

c".  Goosery. 

O.  Barn. 

P.  Dwelling  of  the  Artisans. 

Q.  Brewery. 

R.  Bakery. 

.?.  Stamping-mill. 

T.  Grinding-mill. 

U.  Oast. 

V.  Barley-mow. 

If.  Cooperage andTurners' Work- 
shop. 

X.  Stables. 

a7.  Stalls  for  Horses. 

&.  Stalls  for  Oxen. 

c1.  Cow-house. 

if.  Studdery. 

e1.  Pen  for  Goats. 

/'.  Pigsty. 

g1.  Sheepfold. 

Y.  Dwelling  of  the  Servants. 

Z.  Cart-house  and  Warehouse. 


228  THE   CHRISTIAN   ART   OF   THE   NORTH. 

either  side  of  the  entrance,  and  but  slightly  connected  with  the 
church  itself.  The  towers  are  among  the  earliest  structures  of  their 
kind  known,  inasmuch  as  the  date  of  the  oldest  campaniles  of  Ra- 
venna is  by  no  means  certain,  while  the  towers  mentioned  in  A.  D. 
575  and  734  as  existing  at  Laon  and  Fontanellum  appear  to  have 
been  nothing  more  than  small  belfries.  The  employment  of  bells 
cast  of  bronze,  in  place  of  the  former  bells  of  sheet  iron,  had  first 
become  common  in  Italy,  and  was  introduced  by  Charlemagne  into 
Aix-la-Chapelle  and  Fontanellum.  This  naturally  led  to  a  fur- 
ther development  of  the  towers,  both  in  number  and  dimensions, 
their  chief  purpose,  however,  long  remaining  that  of  barbacans,  as 
especially  noted  on  the  plan  of  St.  Gall.  The  altars  of  St.  Peter 
and  of  St.  Paul,  placed  in  the  opposite  apses,  and  the  crypt  of  St. 
Callus,  underneath  the  eastern  choir,  make  it  clear  that  this  dupli- 
cation resulted  from  the  combination  of  two  older  churches  and 
the  retention  of  both  their  patrons.  In  this  connection  it  is  to  be 
remarked  that  the  wide  passages  around  the  two  apses  were  not 
reckoned  as  part  of  the  sanctuary.  The  northern  side  of  the 
church  adjoined  the  dwelling  of  the  monks,  as  yet  not  divided 
into  cells ;  farther  to  the  west  was  the  house  for  mendicants  and 
pilgrims.  Upon  the  north  was  the  dwelling  of  the  abbot  and  the 
hospitium,  upon  the  east  the  double  chapel  for  the  use  of  the  sick 
and  the  novices.  On  the  left  of  this  was  the  infirmary  and  its  de- 
pendencies, on  the  right  the  school  for  the  novices  and  the  ceme- 
tery. This  main  complex  was  bordered  on  the  south  and  west  by 
the  extensive  enclosures  and  buildings  of  the  farm :  vegetable  gar- 
den, poultry  yard,  barn,  workshops,  bakery,  brewery,  mills,  oast, 
stables,  dwelling  of  the  servants,  warehouse,  etc. 

Unfortunately,  the  plan  leaves  us  in  the  dark  concerning  many 
technical  points  of  the  greatest  interest.  The  more  important 
buildings  may  be  supposed  to  have  been  of  stone,  while  the  sta- 
bles, barn,  etc.,  were  of  wood.  With  the  exception  of  the  crypt 
and  the  apses,  a  vaulted  construction  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  adopted.  The  timbered  roofs  were  covered  with  shingles,  or 
with  a  thatch  of  reed  or  straw.  The  dormitory  was  heated  by  a 
hypocaust,  while  stoves  are  shown  by  the  plan  to  have  stood  in 
the  corners  of  the  living-rooms,  the  smoke  probably  not  being  car- 


ARCHITECTURE.  22Q 

ried  off  through  the  roof  by  means  of  chimneys,  but  through  aper- 
tures in  the  walls  covered  by  hoods.  When  the  hearth  was  placed 
in  the  middle  of  the  room,  the  smoke,  without  doubt,  escaped 
through  an  opening  in  the  roof  directly  above  it,  this  being  pro- 
tected by  a  second  and  smaller  roof,  supported  upon  four  posts, 
after  the  manner  of  the  Italian  cavaedium.  We  have  no  adequate 
knowledge  in  regard  to  the  arrangement  of  windows,  although  a 
kind  of  triforium  appears  in  the  dwelling  of  the  abbot,  the  school 
of  the  novices,  and  especially  in  the  main  passage  of  the  cloisters. 
The  part  of  the  building  last  named  forms  a  transition  between 
the  peristyle  courts  of  the  classic  styles  and  the  arcades  of  small 
columns  common  in  the  Romanic  epoch. 

We  have  less  information  concerning  a  third  convent  of  the  Car- 
olingian  epoch,  that  of  Lorsch,  formerly  Lauresham,  near  Worms, 
on  the  right  bank  of  the  Rhine ;  but  some  idea  of  its  importance 
can  be  gained  from  the  fact  that  Louis  the  German  and  Louis  III. 
are  said  to  have  been  buried  in  the  "  variegated  "  church,  built  by 
the  latter  between  876  and  882  at  that  place, — since  this  evidently 
cannot  have  been  the  chief  basilica  of  the  cloister.  An  interesting 
portal,  apparently  belonging  to  this  building,  dating,  at  all  events, 
to  the  close  of  the  ninth  century,  has  remained  in  an  exceptionally 
fine  state  of  preservation  (Fig.  120).  This  hall,  but  little  over  10  m. 
long  and  7  m.  deep,  was  transformed  at  a  later  period  into  a  chapel. 
The  three  arcades  of  its  lower  story,  resting  upon  piers  and  orna- 
mented with  engaged  columns,  and  the  ten  pilasters  of  the  upper 
story  supporting  gables  in  relief,  offer  a  striking  resemblance  to  the 
antique  portals  of  Verona,  Spalatro,  Treves,  etc.  The  classic  de- 
signs are  imitated  with  great  technical  ability  and  thoroughness, 
the  helplessness  noticeable  in  the  details  of  the  Minster  of  Aix-la- 
Chapelle  being  here  entirely  overcome.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
builders  had  not  attained  to  a  full  understanding  of  the  correct 
proportions  and  forms  of  the  architectural  members.  The  engaged 
columns  are  too  high  for  the  arcades,  and  their  composite  capitals 
are  excessively  attenuated  (Fig.  121),  while  the  pilasters  of  the  up- 
per story  are  too  short  and  their  capitals  too  low.  The  checkered 
pattern  of  the  wall  surfaces  is  coarse  and  of  bad  effect,  and  the 
zigzag-  of  small  gables  is  a  barbarous  substitute  for  the  arcades  in 


230 


THE   CHRISTIAN   ART   OF   THE   NORTH. 


relief  of  the  age  of  Diocletian.     Notwithstanding  all  this,  the  portal 
fa9ade  of  Lorsch  is  to  be  esteemed  as  the  last  great  work  of  classic 

art. 

Little  or  nothing  has  remained  of  the  other  creations  of  the 
Carolingian  epoch.  There  are  but  few  vestiges  of  the  Church  of 
Michelstadt  in  the  Odenwald,  consecrated  to  the  Virgin  in  821, 
and  founded  by  Eginhard,  whom  Louis  the  Pious  had  endowed  in 
814  with  the  estates  of  the  crown  near  Michelstadt, — although  it 
may  be  assumed  that  the  ruin  of  the  Basilica  of  Steinach,  near  the 


Fig.  120.  —  Portal  of  the  Cloister  of  Lorsch. 

before-mentioned  town,  is  identical  with  it.  Later  reconstructions 
have  left  little  of  the  original  building,  the  crypt  and  the  side 
apses,  as  well  as  the  portals,  being  of  the  Romanic  style.*  The 
case  is  similar  with  the  Church  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Marcellinus  at 
Seligenstadt,  built  by  Eginhard  in  the  year  828.  The  old  Cathedral 
of  Cologne,  begun  in  the  year  in  which  Charlemagne  died,  and  fin- 
ished in  873,  has  entirely  disappeared  ;  its  plan,  with  two  choirs 


*G.  Schaefer,  Zeitschrift  f.  b.  Kunst,  ix.,  129,  etc. 


ARCHITECTURE. 


23I 


and  with  two  round  wooden  towers  before  the  western  apse,  must 
have  resembled  that  of  St.  Gall,  and  leads  us  to  suppose  that  it 
was  influenced  by  the  traditions  of  Fulda.  Among  the  other  con- 
structions of  the  Carolingian  epoch  may  be  mentioned  the  Minster 
of  St.  Mary  in  Strasburg,  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul 
at  Worms,  the  Basilica  of  St.  Dionysius  outside  the  same  town,  the 
rebuilding  of  Reichenau,  and  of  the  Church  of  St.  Afra  in  Augs- 
burg which  had  been  destroyed  by  the  Avars,  and  the  chief  min- 
ster of  Ratisbon,  founded  in  831  by  Emma,  the  wife  of  Louis  the 
German.  The  episcopates  of  Saxony  at  this  pe- 
riod offer  no  architectural  monuments  which  can 
be  at  all  compared  with  the  buildings  of  Charle- 
magne. The  houses  and  churches  of  Muenster 
(Miningarneford),  Osnabrueck,  Paderborn,  Mers- 
berg  (Eresburg),  Minden,  Bremen,  Werden,  Hil- 
desheim,  Halberstadt,  and  Hamburg  appear  to 
have  been  almost  entirely  of  wood.  The  Saxon 
cloisters  at  Herford,  Lammspringe,  Gandersheim, 
etc.,  were  all  founded  after  the  death  of  Charle- 
magne, and  long  remained  inferior  to  the  Fran- 
conian,  Hessian,  and  Alemannic  establishments. 
Corvey,  on  the  Weser,  was  of  more  importance, 
having  been  founded  as  a  branch  of  the  French 
Corbie  under  Louis  the  Pious,  and  built  in  822 
©n  its  present  site.  But  only  the  western  part,  a 
hypostyle  hall  between  two  towers  of  square  plan, 
remains  of  the  original  construction.  The  short 
and  thick  shafts  of  its  four  central  columns  are  surmounted  by  capi- 
tals which  reproduce  the  Corinthian  forms  so  exactly  that  they  can- 
not be  attributed  to  the  Romanic  epoch.  They  are  provided  with 
classic  imposts  which,  although  much  debased,  are  evidently  copies 
of  the  mouldings  of  a  Roman  entablature, — distinctly  displaying  the 
astragals,  dentils,  and  modillions  of  the  Corinthian  style  (Fig.  122). 
The  cornices  of  the  piers  in  the  hall  above,  and  the  small  Corinthian 
columns  in  the  apertures  of  the  third  story,  are  readily  distinguisha- 
ble from  the  Romanic  forms  of  the  later  superstructure  of  the  tow- 
er, which  was  probably  added  in  1075  by  the  abbot  Saracho. 


Fig.  121.  —  Pilaster 
Capital  from  the 
Portal  of  Lorsch. 


232 


THE   CHRISTIAN   ART   OF   THE    NORTH. 


After  the  fall  of  the  Carolingian  dynasty  circumstances  became 
decidedly  unfavorable  for  architecture.     The  stone  bridge  over  the 
Rhine  near  Mayence,  which  had  been  built  in  considerable  part  by 
Charlemagne,  was  neglected;  and  for  more  than  a  thousand  years 
after  his  death  there  was  no  serious  attempt  to  carry  out  his  plan 
of  connecting  the  Main  and  the  Danube  with  a  canal.     New  clois- 
ters were  but  rarely  founded,  and  many  of  the  older  establishments 
were  suspended.     The  only  requirements  of  the  time  were  strong 
walls,  to  protect  the  dwellings  during  the  civil  dissensions  brought 
about  by  the  constantly  changing  authorities,  and  to  fortify  the 
cities  against  the  invasions  of  the  Germanic 
lands  by  the  barbarous  Normans  from   the 
North,  and  by  the  Slavonic  and  Hungarian 
races   from   the    East.     Princes   and    nobles 
were  more  and  more  inclined  to  build  their 
strongholds   upon    steep    heights,  while   the 
lower  classes,  who  had  been  at  first  so  widely 
distributed  throughout  the  country,  became 
more   and  more  accustomed  to  unite  their 
forces    in   walled    towns.      The    building   of 
fine  churches,  cloisters,  and  palaces  was  not 
possible  in  these  times  of  general  distress. 
Art  was  even  more   neglected  than   it  had 
been  under  the  last  Merovingians,  and  for  a 
period  longer  than  that  before  the  accession 
of  Charlemagne,  for  the  establishment  of  the 
German  monarchy  did  not  lead  at  once  to  a 
revival  of  monumental  architecture.     The  tenth  century  was  draw- 
ing to  its   close  when   a  new  and  more  significant  artistic   style 
appeared  in  Saxony  and  upon  the  banks  of  the  Rhine. 

The  Germanic  races  had  no  sculpture  of  their  own  at  the  time 
when  they  were  first  brought  into  contact  with  the  Romans.  The 
hideous  puppet -like  idols  which  appeared  here  and  there  do  not 
deserve  to  be  classed  among  works  of  art  any  more  than  do  the 
ornamental  carvings  of  the  wooden  beams  with  which  the  ancient 
Germans  built  their  dwellings.  When  these  Northern  invaders  en- 


Fig,  122. — Capital  and  Im- 
post from  the  Western 
Wing  of  the  Cloister 
Church  of  Corvey. 


SCULPTURE.  233 

tered  Italy  or  other  Roman  provinces,  they  consequently  employed 
native  artists  to  execute  for  them  the  few  works  of  sculpture  which 
they  desired. 

This  is  known  to  have  been  the  case  with  Theodoric,  King  of 
the  Ostrogoths,  between  493  and  526, — the  only  ruler  of  the  north- 
ern barbarians  before  Charlemagne  who  did  much  to  further  art. 
His  court  sculptor  Daniel  was  an  Italian,  and  Cassiodorus  does  not 
lead  us  to  believe  the  other  artisans  employed  by  the  king,  among 
whom  are  especially  mentioned  sculptors  of  marble  and  founders  of 
bronze,  to  have  been  foreigners.  It  certainly  cannot  be  assumed 
that  the  portrait  statues  of  Theodoric,  which  were  added  to  the 
host  of  works  of  this  kind  in  Rome,  were  executed  by  any  but 
Roman  sculptors,  or  that  they  differed  in  artistic  character  from 
the  statues  of  Theodosius,  Honorius,  Valentinian  III.,  etc.,  other- 
wise than  was  to  be  expected  from  the  continual  decline  of  art  from 
decade  to  decade.  The  equestrian  statue  of  Theodoric  upon  the 
Bridge  of  Augustus  at  Ravenna,*  carried  off  by  Charlemagne,  and 
probably  re-erected  upon  the  square  before  the  Palace  of  Aix-la- 
Chapelle,  must  have  resembled  that  of  Marcus  Aurelius  in  Rome, 
notwithstanding  the  shield  and  spear  with  which  it  was  provided. 
This  similarity  was  particularly  remarkable  in  the  so-called  Regisole 
of  Pavia,  unfortunately  destroyed  by  the  French  in  1796,  which 
many  authorities  have  identified  with  the  equestrian  statue  of  Ra- 
venna. It  is  plain  that  the  custom  of  erecting  portrait  statues  of 
princes  was  continued  among  the  Ostrogoths  in  later  times  from 
the  statement  made  by  Procopius  that  Theodatus,  the  successor 
of  Theodoric's  daughter  Amalasuntha,  had  the  presumption  to  place 
statues  of  himself  upon  the  left  of  those  of  the  emperor  Justinian. 

A  similar  state  of  things  appears  to  have  obtained  among  the 
Lombards,  although  in  general  this  barbarous  people  cared  less  for 
art.  It  is  possible  that  the  before -mentioned  equestrian  statue, 
the  so-called  Regisole  in  Pavia,  the  capital  of  the  Lombards,  was 
the  portrait  of  one  of  the  rulers  of  this  dynasty;  for  although  a 


*  C.  P.  Bock,  Die  Reiterstatue  des  Ostgothenkonigs  Theoderich.  Jahrb.  des  Vereins 
von  Alterthumsfreunden  im  Rheinlande.  1844.— W.  Schmidt,  Ueber  das  Reiterstandbild 
des  Konigs  Theoderich.  Zahn's  Jahrb.  f.  Kunstwissenschaft.  1873. 


234  THE   CHRISTIAN   ART   OF   THE   NORTH. 

woodcut  of  this  figure  made  in  1505  shows  it  to  have  resembled 
the  statue  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  connoisseurs  at  the  time  of  Winck- 
elmann  were  undecided  whether  to  consider  the  work  as  a  produc- 
tion of  the  age  of  the  Antonines,  or  as  a  "  lavoro  mediocre  de  bassi 
tempi:'  If  we  may  assume  the  Regisole  to  have  been  executed 
after  the  sixth  century,  the  divergent  opinions  concerning  it  would 
prove  the  sculpture  of  the  period  in  question  to  have  presented 
that  combination  of  technical  and  stylistic  debasement  with  the 
imitation  of  Roman  works  of  the  best  epoch  which  is  characteris- 
tic of  the  previous  centuries  of  artistic  decadence.  Otherwise  there 
are  no  vestiges  of  monumental  sculpture  among  the  Lombards. 

Reliefs  of  stone,  the 


-i.xiMAooNAKPAcaARiTsvBEiMicoNCESSApEMMONivBQvEDi  ^  age  of  which  is  as- 
sured, like  that  now 
preserved  in  the  Ca- 
thedral of  Monza, 
dating  to  the  time 
of  Queen  Theode- 
linde,  or  those  on 
the  four  sides  of  the 
Altar  of  St.  Martin 
at  Cividale  in  Friu- 
li,*  which  was  found- 
ed by  the  duke  Pem- 
mo  about  A.D.  730 

(Fig.  123),  are  extremely  rude  and  provincial ;  while  others,  like  the 
figures  in  high  stucco  relief  in  the  chapel  of  the  Nunnery  at  Civ- 
idale, are  direct  imitations  of  Byzantine  paintings  similar  in  style 
to  the  figure  of  St.  Agnes  in  the  Church  of  S.  Agnese  in  Rome. 
It  is  also  plain  that  the  carvings  of  ivory,  much  in  vogue  at  the 
time,  followed  the  traditions  of  Italy,  and  especially  of  Rome,  while 
the  works  of  precious  metals  were  more  influenced  by  the  artistic 
methods  of  Byzantium.  In  the  former  the  decadence  is  more 
evident,  in  great  measure  because  of  the  difficulty  presented  by 


Fig.  123. — Relief  from  the  Front  Side  of  the  Altar  of  Duke 
Pemmo  in  the  Church  of  St.  Martin  in  Cividale. 


*  R.  Eitelberger,  Cividale  in  Friaul  und  seine  Monumente.     Jahrb.  der  k.  k.  Central- 
commission  zur  Erforschung  und  Erhaltung  der  Baudenkmale.    II.    Wien,  1857. 


SCULPTURE. 


235 


the  representation  of  the  human  figures  which  continued  to  be 
introduced  into  the  designs  of  ivory  carvings,  while  the  jewelry 
was  almost  entirely  restricted  to  geometrical  ornaments  and  to 
incrustations  of  precious  stones.  In  the  so-called  Pax,  in  the  ar- 
chive of  the  Chapter-house  at  Cividale  (Fig.  124),  which  was  made 
in  the  eighth  century  for  the  duke  Ursus  of  Ceneda,  the  silver 
border  is  of  less  interest  than  the  relief.  In  other  specimens  of 
goldsmiths'  work  the  tasteful  and  simple  designs  and  the  great 
delicacy  of  execution  com- 
mand our  admiration,  espe- 
cially those  which  are  proved 
by  Latin  inscriptions  not  to 
have  been  imported  from  By- 
zantium, and  not  to  have  been 
executed  by  Byzantine  immi- 
grants. Among  these  may 
be  mentioned  the  magnificent 
cover  of  a  copy  of  the  Gospels 
in  the  Cathedral  of  Monza, 
which,  according  to  an  in- 
scription, was  the  gift  of 
Queen  Theodelinde.  The 
gold  filigree- like  borders  of 
its  enamel  display  simple  lin- 
ear ornaments,  without  rem-  Fig.  124.— So-called  Pax  of  the  Duke  Ursus  in 
iniscences  of  the  antique  pat-  Cividale. 

terns,  while   the   chief    effect 

is  obtained  by  a  studding  of  precious  stones,  pearls,  and  antique 
cameos. 

More  significant  than  these  works,  which  rather  deserve  to  be 
considered  as  the  last  efforts  of  the  expiring  art  of  antiquity,  are 
the  memorials  of  the  Northern  races  of  this  epoch.  Three  great 
currents  are  here  recognizable,  from  the  confluence  of  which  the 
characteristics  of  northern  art  resulted,  local  and  national  peculiar- 
ities being  determined  by  the  relative  importance  of  these  ele- 
ments. One  of  these  can  be  traced  to  the  most  remote  ages, — 
namely,  to  the  commercial  voyages  of  the  Phcenicians,  who  brought 


236  THE   CHRISTIAN   ART   OF   THE   NORTH. 

wares  of  beaten  metal  to  all  the  coasts  of  Northern  Europe  in  ex- 
change for  tin  and  amber.  The  empaistic  style  of  these  works  was 
succeeded  by  the  artistic  methods  of  Rome,  which  entirely  obliter- 
ated the  traces  of  the  Phoenician  imports  in  all  the  provinces  of  the 
Empire,  but  which  were  less  dominant  in  the  north-eastern  lands  of 
Europe,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  Roman  works  were  carried 
by  traders  to  the  most  distant  regions.  Between  the  two  there 
sprang  up  a  most  important  indigenous  style,  based  upon  the  de- 
signs of  braided  work,  which  was  neither  exclusively  Celtic  nor 
Germanic,  but  common  to  all  the  lands  of  the  North. 

This  plaited  work  was  of  the  same  importance  to  the  races 
of  Northern  Europe  as  weaving  and  embroidery  to  the  Asiatics, 
from  which  the  textile  ornaments  of  Mesopotamian,  Lycian,  and 
Arabian  architecture  had  been  derived.  The  braiding  of  hair,  bas- 
kets, satchels,  mattings,  and  the  like,  was  chief  among  the  employ- 
ments of  the  women  of  the  North.  Braided  rushes,  swamp-grass- 
es, and  osier,  the  hair  of  women  and  horses,  or  strips  of  the  skin 
of  animals,  took  the  place  of  the  embroideries  of  Arabian  deserts. 
Thus  it  is  not  strange  that  imitations  of  the  designs  of  these  works 
should  have  decided  the  most  characteristic  patterns  of  the  North, 
appearing  at  first  in  the  carvings  of  wooden  architectural  members, 
in  the  decorations  of  utensils  of  metal,  when  it  became  possible 
to  manufacture  these  articles  instead  of  importing  them  from  the 
Phoenicians  and  Romans,  and  finally  in  the  stone  sculptures  of 
monumental  art. 

In  view  of  the  perishable  nature  of  the  materials  of  which 
these  braided  and  woven  works  were  originally  formed,  it  is  not 
surprising  that  the  only  vestiges  of  them  now  remaining  should  be 
the  products  of  a  comparatively  recent  age ;  nevertheless  there  are 
in  Ireland  some  few  specimens  of  this  manufacture,  intended  as 
the  cases  of  valuable  books  or  liturgical  vessels,  dating  from  the 
earliest  time  of  the  Middle  Ages,  the  ingenious  work  of  which  in- 
dicates a  long  previous  practice.  We  have  no  examples  of  those 
"  representations  of  worms,"  i.  e.,  borders  embroidered  with  inter- 
twined patterns,  the  application  of  which  to  ecclesiastical  vest- 
ments St.  Boniface  censured  as  heathenish.  Even  wooden  carv- 
ings of  this  style  have  become  rare,  with  exception  of  the  shoe- 


SCULPTURE. 


237 


shaped  tablets  found  in  the  Black  Forest  in  connection  with  the 
so-called  Todtenbaeume,  or  coffins  cut  longitudinally  from  the 
trunks  of  trees,  and  hollowed  out  for  the  bodies.  Vermiculated 
ornaments  are  mentioned  as  having  been  employed  upon  the  tim- 
bers of  houses,  and  it  is  evident  that  drinking -vessels  carved  or 
turned  of  wood,  and  inlaid  with  gold  and  jewels,  were  regarded  as 
princely  gifts. 

The  most  important  remains  of  the  Northern 
art  of  this  epoch  are  the  objects  of  metal.  The 
most  ancient  of  these  display  but  few  traces  of 
the  imitation  of  braided  work,  being  decorated 
by  simple  figures  and  linear  patterns.  This  is  the 
case  with  the  arms  and  ornaments  found  at  Tour- 
nay,  in  the  grave  of  the  Merovingian  king  Chil- 
deric,  who  died  in  the  year  481.  Particularly 
noticeable  among  them  is  the  sword,  with  an 
enamel  of  red  flux  in  the  cells  formed  by  soldered 
threads  of  gold,  the  design  of  which  is  of  extreme 
simplicity  (Fig.  125).  The  double-handled  chalice 
with  its  oblong  stand  of  gold,  which  was  found  at 
Gourdon  near  Chalons,  and  probably  was  a  votive 
offering  from  Sigismund,  king  of  Burgundy,  who 
died  in  A.  D.  524,  is  of  a  similar  style,  but  of  supe- 
rior design.  The  treasure  discovered  at  Fuente 
de  Guerrazar,  near  Toledo,  is  far  more  important. 
The  fine  crown  (Fig.  126)  belonging  to  it  is  un-  Fig-  125. —  Sword  of 
questionably  that  of  Reccesvinthus  (Recesuinto), 
king  of  the  Visigoths  A.  D.  649  to  672,  the  letters 
forming  his  name  being  suspended  by  chains  around  the  rim.  The 
manner  of  mounting  the  pearls  and  jewels,  the  wheel-shaped  orna- 
ments, etc.,  closely  resemble  the  before-mentioned  cover  of  the  Gos- 
pels which  belonged  to  Theodelinde,  queen  of  the  Lombards,  and  it 
is  to  be  assumed  that  this  crown  was  executed  in  Italy  under  the  in- 
fluence of  Byzantium,  or  at  least  by  an  artist  who  had  been  trained 
in  that  school.  In  the  book  of  laws  of  the  Visigoths  mention  is 
made  of  "  transmarine  "  merchants  who  dealt  in  works  of  gold  and 
silver,  rich  garments,  and  other  adornments,  and  Gregory  of  Tours 


King  Childeric,  now 
in  the  Louvre. 


238  THE   CHRISTIAN   ART   OF   THE   NORTH. 

relates  that  in  the  time  of  the  Merovingians  foreign  traders  sold 
similar  articles  in  Paris.  It  is  evident,  however,  that  the  demand 
of  the  French  for  such  minor  works  of  art  was  not  entirely  sup- 
plied by  imports  from  abroad,  for  St.  Eligius,  who  came  to  Paris 
from  Limoges  at  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  century,  was  highly 
esteemed  at  the  Merovingian  court  for  his  works  in  precious  metal. 

In  the  entire  lack  of  examples  we 
are  not  able  to  tell  whether  these 
products  were  of  the  Byzantine  and 
Italian  styles,  or  whether  native  de- 
signs were  employed.  Metal  works 
decorated  with  braided  patterns  do 
not  appear  before  the  seventh  cen- 
tury, and  seem  to  have  originated  in 
the  northern  countries,  which  were 
little  influenced  by  the  Romans. 

In  the  course  of  the  eighth  cen- 
tury this  industry  assumed  most  im- 
portant dimensions.  The  fibulas,  or 
brooches  (Fig.  127),  which  among  the 
ancients  took  the  place  of  buttons 
and  of  hooks  and  eyes,  became  more 
and  more  elaborate,  all  their  surfaces 
showing  endless  variations  of  the 
same  intertwined  ornaments  of  braids, 
loops,  knots,  etc.  The  peculiar  char- 
acter of  the  slit  and  interwoven  leath- 
er straps,  which  served  as  a  model  for 
these  designs,  is  retained  throughout, 
being  evident  even  when  animal  forms 
are  adopted  for  the  ends.  The  heads 
of  serpents  lent  themselves  most  nat- 
urally to  this  employment,  but  the  figures  of  other  animals,  in 
monstrous  contortions,  were  also  introduced.  In  general  the  na- 
tional art  of  the  early  Germans  avoided  the  representation  of  the 
human  form ;  this  is  evident  in  the  so-called  Regenbogenschuessel- 
chen,  bracteate  coins  of  gold  and  silver  which  were  stamped  with 


Fig.  126. — Crown  of  Reccesvinthus, 
King  of  the  Visigoths,  now  in  the 
Musee  Cluny,  in  Paris. 


SCULPTURE.  ~7n 

zjy 

the  figures  of  animals.  In  the  provinces  occupied  by  the  Romans 
the  debased  forms  of  the  Byzantine  mintage  continued  to  be  im- 
itated. 

In  the  few  cases  where  human  figures  were  introduced  recourse 
was  had  to  the  Byzantine  prototypes.  This  is  evident  in  the  cele- 
brated chalice  (Fig.  128)  of  gilded  copper  in  Kremsmuenster,  which 
was  given  by  the  last  Agilolfing  duke  of  Bavaria,  Thassilo,  to  the 
cloister  founded  by  him  in  that  place  A.D.  772.  Moreover,  the 
clumsy  shape  of  the  chalice  is  entirely  different  from  antique  ves- 
sels of  this  kind,  rather  resembling  the  turned  and  carved  cups  of 
wood  which  have  been  men- 
tioned above  as  peculiar  to  the 
North.  The  decorations  which 
surround  the  few  breast-pieces 
and  cover  the  entire  remaining 
surface  display,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  fantastic  intertwined 
forms  of  the  North,  without  a 
trace  of  the  classical  patterns. 

Charlemagne  himself  de- 
sired less  to  further  the  de- 
velopment of  a  national  art 
than  to  rehabilitate  the  Ro- 
man traditions.  He  removed  Fig.  127. — Brooch  of  German  workmanship  dat- 

the  statue  of  Theodoric  from       ins  to  the  eishth  century:  found  at  Wi»»- 

T>  A  •       t       /~i  lingen.     Now  in  the  National   Museum  of 

Ravenna   to   Aix-la-Chapelle,  * 

Munich. 

not  only  because  of  his  admi- 
ration for  the  great  ruler  of  the  Ostrogoths,  but  because  of  his  in- 
terest in  transforming  his  northern  capital  to  a  new  Rome  by  the 
help  of  the  masterpieces  of  Italian  art.  He  could  not  raise  monu- 
mental sculpture  to  its  former  importance,  but  he  erected  founderies 
and  workshops  for  the  manufacture  of  architectural  ornaments. 
The  Minster  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  still  preserves  the  four  bronze  doors 
which  were  cast  during  his  reign,  as  well  as  the  balustrades  of  the 
gallery  ;  both  of  these  were  difect  imitations  of  antique  models, 
from  which  they  are  to  be  distinguished  only  by  the  inexperienced 
workmanship  and  inferior  design  of  their  decorative  details. 


240 


THE   CHRISTIAN   ART   OF   THE   NORTH. 


Gold  and  silver  smiths  must  also  have  been  employed  at  Aix-la- 
Chapelle  as  well  as  bronze  founders,  for  Charlemagne,  following 
the  taste  of  his  time,  took  great  delight  in  works  of  precious  met- 
als and  jewelry.  Most  of  these  were  imported  from  Italy  and 
from  Byzantium;  still,  a  considerable  industry  in  these  branches 
was  carried  on  in  Aix-la-Chapelle  itself,  under  the  direction  of 
Eginhard  and  Ansegius,  the  friends  of  the  emperor.  The  same  was 
the  case  in  the  larger  cloisters,  St.  Denis  having  been  celebrated 
for  its  works  of  gold.  The  imperial  mint  deserves  to  be  mentioned 

in  this  connection,  although  the 
Carolingian  coins  were  certainly 
not  of  great  artistic  value,  dis- 
playing only  rough  legends  and 
rude  symbols. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  the 
Carolingian  works  of  precious 
metal  were  decidedly  inferior  to 
the  Byzantine  models.  They  were 
far  from  attaining  to  the  artistic 
eminence  of  one  of  the  contem- 
porary works  of  Italy,  the  mag- 
nificent revetment  of  the  altar  of 
S.  Ambrogio  in  Milan,  dedicated 
in  827  by  the  archbishop  Angil- 
bert,  and  executed  by  Master 
Wolvinius,  whose  name  leads  us 

Fig.  128.— The  Chalice  of  Thassilo  in 

Kremsmuenster.  to    think    him    a    German. 

workmanship  of  its  gilded  sheets 

of  silver- rivals  the  best  contemporary  products  of  Byzantium,  while 
the  figures,  in  correctness  and  beauty  of  form,  and  in  facial  ex- 
pression, far  surpass  all  other  works  of  the  kind  which  have  been 
preserved  from  this  period. 

Ivory  carvings  in  relief  continued  greatly  in  vogue,  yet  but 
few  of  them  can  be  accurately  dated.  Among  these  the  two  re- 
liefs executed  by  the  versatile  monk  Tutilo  of  St.  Gall,  who  died 
in  915,  are  particularly  adapted  to  convey  a  distinct  conception  of 
the  tendencies  of  Carolingian  art  (Fig.  129).  Antique  reminiscences 


SCULPTURE. 


241 


are  evident  in  the  allegorical  figures  of  Sol,  Luna,  Oceanus,  and 
Tellus ;  the  Evangelists  resemble  ancient  philosophers,  while  the 
Christ  and  the  cherubim  distinctly  display  the  influences  of  By- 
zantium. Nevertheless,  the  composition  is  original  in  many  re- 
spects, and  the  action  of  the  figures  is  lifelike,  often  even  exagger- 
ated, as  in  the  case  of  St.  Mark,  who  is  represented  as  cutting  a 
calamus.  The  diptych  of  Tutilo,  however,  must  have  surpassed 

the    other    works    of    this    .         . 

epoch,  as  did  his  fame  as 
an  artist  that  of  all  his  con- 
temporaries. 

The  mosaics  of  Raven- 
na executed  during  the 
domination  of  the  Ostro- 
goths, such  as  those  in  the 
Baptistery  of  the  Arians 
(S.  Maria  in  Cosmedin),  and 
in  S.  Apollinare  nuovo,  the 
court  church  of  Theodoric, 
are  only  to  be  distinguished 
from  the  works  of  the  Ital- 
ians preceding  and  follow- 
ing that  epoch  by  the 
steady  decline  of  the  ar- 
tistic style.  The  portraits 
of  Theodoric  in  mosaic, 

known  to  have  existed  at  Ravenna,  Pavia,  and  Naples,  can  have  pre- 
sented no  peculiar  characteristics,  and  must  in  many  respects  have 
resembled  the  images  of  Justinian  (compare  Fig.  50).  The  superior- 
ity of  the  mosaics  of  Rome  in  the  seventh  century  over  those  of 
Byzantium  must  have  been  of  influence  upon  the  Lombardic  art, 
and  have  been  apparent  in  its  chief  works:  the  painted  decorations  of 
the  palace  of  Theodelinde  at  Monza,  with  representations  of  the  war- 
like deeds  of  the  Lombards, — the  mosaics  of  the  Basilica  of  Olona, 
A.  D.  712  to  743, — those  dating  to  the  seventh  or  eighth  century 
in  Gravedona,  on  the  Lake  of  Como,  —  and  the  paintings  with 


Fig.  129. — Relief  of  Ivory,  the  work  of  the  monk 
Tutilo  of  St.  Gall. 


16 


242  THE   CHRISTIAN   ART   OF   THE   NORTH. 

which  Duke  Anthimus  adorned  a  church  in  Naples.  Nothing  has 
remained  of  all  these.  Their  loss  to  the  history  of  art  is  compara- 
tively small,  inasmuch  as  the  paintings  and  mosaics  of  both  the 
Ostrogoths  and  the  Lombards  may  be  assumed  to  have  been  exe- 
cuted by  Italians  or  by  Byzantines. 

Monumental  paintings  appeared  among  the  Visigoths  and  the 
Franks  as  early  as  did  the  building  of  churches.  Gregory  of  Tours 
mentions  them  as  common  in  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries,  and 
gives  an  account  of  mosaics  in  Cologne  which  conferred  upon  a 
church  of  that  city  the  name  "  ad  sanctos  aureos."  In  the  second 
half  of  the  seventh  century  painters  were  brought  to  England  from 
Italy,  which  fact  points  to  the  introduction  of  ecclesiastical  paint- 
ings among  the  Anglo-Saxons  at  this  time,  as  well  as  to  the 
lack  of  trained  artists  in  Gaul.  The  only  memorials  of  this  art 
referable  to  the  Merovingian  epoch  are  a  few  manuscripts  of  the 
Franks  and  Visigoths,  in  which  the  designs  are  restricted  to  the 
initials.  Their  simple  outlines  show  the  first  employment  of  the 
forms  of  fishes  or  birds  as  parts  of  let'ters,  these  primitive  illumi- 
nations hence  being  designated  as  ornithoidic  or  ichthy amorphous. 
The  increasing  ability  of  the  scribes  added  to  these  the  figures 
of  climbing  quadrupeds,  generally  of  a  monstrous  character,  such 
as  dragons  and  the  like,  frequently  combined  with  an  interwoven 
strap-work.  The  first  attempts  are  little  more  than  a  florid  writ- 
ing, colors  only  being  used  sparingly  to  enhance  the  effect  of  the 
penmanship. 

In  contrast  to  these  beginnings  of  figure-painting,  the  illumina- 
tors of  the  Irish  cloisters*  endeavored  to  introduce  into  their  calli- 
graphic decorations  the  designs  of  the  ancient  Celtic  braided  work. 
Ireland  appears  to  have  been  Christianized  as  early  as  the  middle 
of  the  sixth  century,  and,  favored  by  the  position  of  the  island,  the 
development  of  its  civilization  was  exceptionally  undisturbed.  Its 
ornamental  painting  far  surpassed  that  of  all  the  other  countries  of 
the  North  in  careful  and  intelligent  treatment  of  outline  and  colors. 
The  Irish  missionaries  in  England,  France  and  Switzerland,  South- 


*  J.  O.  Westwood,  Fac-similes  of  the  Miniatures  and  Ornaments  of  Anglo-Saxon  and 
Irish  Manuscripts.     London,  1868. 


PAINTING. 


243 


western  Germany,  and  even  in  Lombardy,  carried  the  illuminated 
manuscripts  throughout  a  large  part  of  Europe.  Almost  as  many 
have  been  preserved  in  the  cloisters  of  the  Continent  as  on  the  isl- 
and itself,  these  being  more  frequently  referable  to  wandering  Irish 
illuminators,  and  to  the  cultivation  of  the  artistic  traditions  which 
they  introduced  by  the  brethren  of  the  foreign  cloisters,  than  to 
the  exportation  of  Irish  prod- 
ucts. In  such  works  whole 
pages  of  the  most  laborious  and 
intricate  interwoven  patterns  of 
strap-work  and  animal  forms  are 
added  to  the  braided  designs  of 

o 

the  initials  (Fig.  130).  The  dec- 
orations are  rendered  attractive 
by  their  ingenious  composition, 
exact  drawing,  and  rich  color- 
ing, but  the  representations  of 
human  figures  which  occur  in 
these  illuminations  are  frightful 
attempts  to  adapt  its  forms  to 
the  braidings  and  twistings  of 
the  calligraphic  designs.  The 
natural  shapes  and  proportions 
are  entirely  neglected,  while  the 
garments  and  extremities  are 
contorted  in  the  most  fantastic 


manner,   so    as    to    reduce    the 

whole  figure  to  an  ornamental  FiS-  130.— Miniature  from  the  Gospel  of  Du- 
problem  (Fig.  131).  Fortunate- 
ly the  Germanic  races  of  Eng- 
land and  of  the  Continent  which  had  been  converted  by  the  Irish 
missionaries  did  not  entirely  adopt  these  barbarous  artistic  meth- 
ods,— possible  only  among  a  people  wholly  uninfluenced  by  classic 
culture.  This  is  proved  by  the  Book  of  St.  Cuthbert,  now  in  the 
British  Museum,  which  was  written  between  687  and  698  in  the 
cloister  of  the  English  island  Lindisfarne:  while  its  ornaments  are 
entirely  Celtic,  the  human  figures,  though  rude,  show  a  striving 


row,  seventh   century. 
Dublin. 


Trinity  College, 


244 


THE  CHRISTIAN   ART   OF   THE   NORTH. 


after  realism  which  contrasts   strongly  with  the  methods  of   the 
Irish  illuminators. 

In  painting,  as  in  all  other  branches  of  art,  the  accession  of 
Charlemagne  resulted  in  an  increased  activity,  which  was  in  this 
case  of  exceptionally  long  duration.  Although  the  Emperor  de- 
sired rather  to  renew  antique  traditions  than  to  lay  the  founda- 
tion of  a  national  and  independent  art,  yet  in  painting  he  opened 
the  way  for  new  elements —capable  even  of  a  greater  development 

than  it  was  possible  for  them 
to  attain  in  the  troublous 
times  of  the  ninth  and  tenth 
centuries.  The  religious  and 
monumental  works  of  this  pe- 
riod must  have  been  least  af- 
fected by  this  peculiarly  Ger- 
manic movement.  The  large 
mosaic  which  ornamented  the 
dome  of  the  Minster  of  Aix- 
la-Chapelle  until  the  begin- 
ning of  the  last  century  was 
probably  either  imported  alto- 
gether, or  was  executed  by 
Italian  mosaic -workers  who 
had  immigrated  to  the  north- 
ern capital.  Consequently  it 
must  have  exhibited  a  Byzan- 
tine style  similar  to  that  of 
the  mosaic  in  the  niche  of  the 
choir  of  S.  Ambrogio  in  Milan, 


Fig.  131. — St.  Matthew  the  Evangelist,  from  a 
miniature  dating  to  the  eighth  or  ninth  cen- 
tury. St.  Gall. 


which  dates  to  the  year  832.  The  religious  wall-paintings  of  the 
churches  and  cloisters  built  by  Charlemagne  without  doubt  exhib- 
ited the  same  features.  The  cloisters  of  Fontanellum,  Fulda,  and 
Reichenau  are  known  to  have  cultivated  painting,  and  even  the 
names  of  several  of  their  artists  have  been  preserved,  as  for  in- 
stance, Madalulfus  in  Fontanellum,  and  Brun  in  Fulda.  The  his- 
torical scenes  in  the  palaces  of  Charlemagne  at  Aix-la-Chapelle 
and  Ingelheim  may  have  been  somewhat  more  original,  although 


PAINTING.  245 

the  idea  of  such  mural  decorations  may  have  been  taken  from 
those  in  the  Palace  of  Theodelinde,  Queen  of  the  Lombards,  at 
Monza.  The  Spanish  wars  of  Charlemagne  were  represented  at 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  and  as  the  types  of  the  Moorish  enemies  had  not 
occurred  in  Italian  art,  this  must  naturally  have  exercised  the  in- 
ventive faculties  of  the  designer.  Novel  subjects  were  similarly 
provided  in  Ingelheim  by  the  deeds  of  Charles  Martell,  Pipin,  and 
Charlemagne,  which  concluded  the  historical  series  of  episodes  from 
the  lives  of  Cyrus,  Ninus,  Phalaris,  Romulus,  Hannibal,  Alexander, 
Constantine,  and  Theodosius. 

As  none  of  these  monumental  works  have  been  preserved,  we 
are  obliged  to  base  our  judgment  of  Carolingian  painting  upon  the 
miniatures  alone.*  These  memorials  are  well  adapted  to  convey  a 
favorable  impression  of  the  artistic  activity  of  the  period.  The  sim- 
ple initials  in  outline  of  the  previous  Prankish  manuscripts,  and  the 
braided  work  of  the  Celtic  illuminations,  were  in  them  supplement- 
ed by  more  important  and  elaborate  lettering  and  by  real  pictures. 
The  intertwined  patterns  of  the  North  were  combined  with  floral 
decorations  which  had  been  entirely  lacking  in  the  Irish  illumina- 
tions,— the  fundamental  forms  of  the  acanthus  leaf  being  scarcely 
recognizable,  and  the  conventionalization  approaching  in  character 
to  that  of  the  foliage  of  the  Romanic  epoch.  The  colors  were  no 
longer  limited  to  isolated  spots,  introduced  to  heighten  the  effect  of 
the  pen  drawing,  but  were  extended  over  the  whole  surface,  the 
leaves  of  parchment  themselves  being  at  times  dipped  into  a  purple 
dye,  or  washed  with  it  so  as  to  leave  only  a  narrow  edge.  The  pig- 
ments most  commonly  used  were  thick  body-colors,  with  medium 
local  tones,  the  lights  and  shades  being  drawn  in  line,  in  strong 
contrast  to  the  background.  Gold  was  lavishly  employed,  as  was 
at  first  silver,  neither  of  which  had  appeared  in  the  Irish  illumina- 
tions. The  harmonious  general  effect  of  the  Byzantine  miniatures 
was,  however,  seldom  attained.  The  treatment  of  the  human  fig- 

*  J.  O.  Westwood,  Palaeographia  sacra  Pictoria.  London,  1843.— H.  N.  Humphreys 
and  Owen  Jones,  The  Illuminated  Books  of  the  Middle  Ages.  London,  1849. — H-  Shaw, 
The  Art  of  Illuminating  as  practised  during  the  Middle  Ages.  London,  1870,  2d  ed. — 
R.  Rahn,  Das  Psalterium  Aureum  von  St.  Gallen.  St.  Gallen,  1878.— Cte'  Bastard,  Pein 
tures  et  Ornements  des  Manuscrits.  Paris,  s.  a. 


246 


THE   CHRISTIAN   ART   OF   THE   NORTH. 


ures  was  midway  between  the  antique  traditions  and  an  intelligent 
observation  of  nature,  thus  being  superior  to  the  Byzantine  works 
in  life  and  force,  while  inferior  to  them  in  correctness  and  neatness 
of  execution,  and  especially  in  facility  and  general  effect. 

This  stage  of  perfection  was  not  reached  until  the  latter  half  of 
the  reign  of  Charlemagne.  The  Sacramentarium  from  the  Abbey 
of  Gellone  near  Toulouse,  now  in  the  National  Library  of  Paris, 
dating  to  the  end  of  the  eighth  century,  displays 
ichthyomorphous  initials  and  a  simple  drawing 
which  is  little  in  advance  of  the  early  Prankish 
types.  An  attempt  to  overcome  the  difficulties 
presented  by  the  first  innovations  is  evident  in 
the  copy  of  the  Gospels  executed  in  781  by 
Godescalc  for  Charlemagne  and  his  wife  Hilde- 
gard,  and  given  to  the  Abbey  St.  Sernin  in  Tou- 
louse. This  work,  written  in  letters  of  gold  upon 
a  purple  parchment,  is  now  preserved  in  the  Na- 
tional Library  of  Paris  (Fig.  132).  The  artistic 
conception  is  here  superior  to  the  technical  abil- 
ity, the  desire  to  give  expression  to  individual 
observations  and  ideas  being  evident  throughout. 
An  advance  is  noticeable  in  the  Codex  Aureus 
of  the  City  Library  of  Treves,  in  that  of  Abbeville 
in  Paris,  and  in  the  copy  of  the  Evangelists  from 
St.  Medard  in  Soissons,  in  the  same  collection. 
Fig.  132.— Initial  IN,  Of  a  still  higher  character  are  two  codices  which 
from  the  Evangelia-  were  probably  written  in  Tours :  the  Vulgata  in 
Bamberg  and  the  Bible  of  Alcuin  in  Zurich.  The 
former,  begun  under  Alcuin,  the  friend  of  the  Em- 
peror, who  died  in  804  as  abbot  of  St.  Martin  in 
Tours,  exhibits  a  marked  development,  which  may  be  referred  to  the 
influence  of  the  magnificent  buildings  of  Aix-la-Chapelle.  The  calli- 
graphic designs  of  the  initials  and  borders  of  both  are  a  systematic 
and  tasteful  combination  of  Celtic  braided  work  with  antique  foliage 
similar  to  that  employed  in  later  times  in  the  decorations  of  the 
Romanic  style.  In  view  of  such  works,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the 
secretaries  of  the  Emperor  were  chosen  from  among  the  illuminators 


rium  of  Godescalc. 
National  Library  of 
Paris. 


PAINTING.  247 

of  this  cloister,  and  that  the  writing -school  founded  in  Tours  by 
Alcuin  became  of  decisive  influence  throughout  a  wide  circle.  Local 
peculiarities,  however,  were  observable  in  various  cloisters,  St.  Denis, 
for  instance,  chiefly  cultivating  the  Irish  style,  while  in  Metz  the 
primitive  Prankish  methods  continued  to  be  practised  and  improved. 
The  care  taken  by  Charlemagne  for  the  further  development  of 
painting  at  his  court  and  in  the  chief  cloisters  of  .his  realm  resulted 
in  so  lasting  an  improvement  that  the  miniatures  of  his  successors 
were  superior  even  to  those  of  his  own  time.  This  is  evident  from 
the  codices  of  the  emperors  Lothaire  and  Charles  the  Bald.  In 
these  works  the  human  figures  are  still  inferior  to  the  calligraphic 
ornaments,  but  the  independence  of  composition  which  had  ap- 
peared during  the  reign  of  Charlemagne  is  so  increased  as  to  make 
up  for  the  many  defects  of  draughtsmanship.  The  proportions  are 
certainly  not  beautiful,  being  short  and  thick,  weak  in  the  arms  and 
legs,  the  head  too  large,  the  forehead  retreating,  the  eyes  staring, 
the  nose  shapeless,  the  body  apparently  without  a  bony  struct- 
ure, the  belly  protruding,  and  the  folds  of  the  draperies  too  small. 
No  attention  is  paid  to  the  principles  of  composition  or  to  the  laws 
of  perspective ;  there  is  no  understanding  of  the  landscape  back- 
ground. But  notwithstanding  all  the  exaggeration  and  contortions 
of  the  movements,  all  the  sprawling  and  disjointed  positions,  a  fresh 
originality  of  conception  is  everywhere  apparent,  which  supersedes 
the  effete  traditions,  and  is  always  attractive  because  of  its  sponta- 
neity of  sentiment  and  direct  observation  of  nature.  The  success 
of  these  efforts  heightened  the  self-confidence  of  the  artists,  and 
extensive  and  varied  compositions  appeared  in  place  of  the  few 
typical  figures  to  which  the  illuminations  had  previously  been  re- 
stricted. This  is  especially  evident  in  the  magnificent  codices  of 
Charles  the  Bald:  the  Evangeliarium  and  Psalterium  in  Paris;  the 
Codex  Aureus  brought  by  King  Arnulph  in  891  to  St.  Emmeram- 
nus,  in  Ratisbon,  from  St.  Denis,  now  in  the  library  of  Munich;  the 
Bible  of  St.  Calixtus  or  St.  Paul  in  Rome,  which  may,  however,  be 
as  late  as  the  time  of  Charles  the  Fat,  and  the  Psalterium  Aureum 
in  St.  Gall,  which  may  also  be  more  recent.  The  representations  of 
ceremonial  figures  or  evangelists,  as  might  be  expected,  follow  the 
traditional  types  in  many  ways,  but  the  new  illustrations,  although 


248  THE   CHRISTIAN   ART   OF   THE   NORTH. 

still  deficient  in  grace  and  correctness,  are  much  more  full  of  life 
and  expression.  A  striking  example  of  this  is  the  picture  of  David 
with  the  choir  of  singers  and  musicians  which  is  introduced  into 
nearly  all  the  Psalters  of  that  period,— chief  among  which  is  that 
of  Charles  the  Bald  in  Paris,  and  the  Psalterium  Aureum  in  St. 
Gall.  The  bending  of  the  bodies  in  the  ecstatic  dance,  the  float- 
ing draperies,  and  the  lyric  rapture  of  David  are  expressed  with 
great  success,  notwithstanding  the  many  defects  of  drawing  and 
coloring.  Not  less  remarkable  is  a  miniature  in  the  Codex  of  St. 


Fig.  133. — David  feigning  Madness.     Miniature  from  the  Codex  Aureus  of  Charles 
the  Bald  in  St.  Gall. 

Gall,  representing  the  feigned  madness  of  David  when  recognized 
at  the  court  of  Achish,  king  of  Gath.  It  is  difficult  to  imagine  a 
more  striking  illustration  of  the  words  of  the  king  to  his  servants: 
"  Lo,  ye  see  the  man  is  mad !  wherefore,  then,  have  you  brought 
him  to  me?"  (Fig.  133). 

After  the  middle  of  the  ninth  century  the  fame  of  the  school  of 
illuminators  of  St.  Gall  exceeded  that  of  Tours,  and  until  late  in 
the  tenth  century  the  imperial  secretaries  were  educated  in  the  for- 
mer cloister,  and  the  manuscripts  which  were  given  as  testimonies  of 


PAINTING.  249 

honor  by  the  Carolingian  rulers  were  executed  in  that  place.  The 
miniatures  of  St.  Gall  differ  from  those  of  the  French  cloisters, 
which  were  executed  in  body-colors  by  the  employment  of  trans- 
parent pigments  for  the  flesh  tints  and  draperies,  so  as  not  entirely 
to  hide  the  parchment  ground.  This  style  was  cultivated  during 
the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries  in  almost  all  the  cloisters  of  Ger- 
many: at  Worms,  Hornbach,  Strasburg,  Beromuenster,  Einsiedln, 
etc.,  St.  Gall  thus  appearing  as  the  centre  of  an  important  school 
of  illumination  quite  distinct  from  that  of  France. 

The  names  of  some  artists  of  this  period  have  been  handed 
down  to  us.  In  the  Evangeliarium  of  Lothaire  in  Aix-la-Chapelle 
a  monk  Otto  is  mentioned  as  the  scribe.  In  the  Codex  Aureus  of 
Charles  the  Bald,  now  in  Munich,  the  illuminations  are  stated  to 
have  been  executed  by  the  brethren  Beringar  and  Liuthard ;  in 
the  Prayer-book  of  the  same  Emperor,  now  in  Paris,  occurs  the 
name  of  Liuthard  alone,  and  in  the  Bible  of  St.  Calixtus,  in  Rome, 
that  of  Ingobert.  Wolfcoz  and  Folchard,  the  abbot  Salomo,  A.D. 
890  to  920,  Sintram,  Notker  Balbulus,  and  Tutilo  were  celebrated 
among  the  illuminators  of  St.  Gall ;  some  of  their  works  even  con- 
tain self-complacent  eulogies. 

The  miniature-painting  of  the  Carolingian  epoch,  which  reached 
its  highest  development  under  Charles  the  Bald,  retained  its  posi- 
tion longer  than  did  the  architecture  and  sculpture  of  that  period. 
But  after  the  middle  of  the  tenth  century  it  also  was  affected  by 
the  general  decline.  The  compositions  became  poor  and  superfi- 
cial, the  execution  careless,  and  wanting  in  understanding.  Ger- 
manic culture  again  relapsed  into  barbarism :  fortunately  but  for  a 
short  period,  /or  a  more  brilliant  and  lasting  development,  that  of 
the  Romanic  style,  was  soon  to  be  commenced. 


Fig.  134. — The  Abbey  Church  of  Laach. 


ROMANIC   ARCHITECTURE    IN   GERMANY. 

THE  disassociation  of  the  German  element  from  the  French 
had  been  begun  during  the  Carolingian  epoch  by  the  treaty  of 
Verdun,  A.D.  843,  but  the  entire  separation,  destined  to  be  of  the 
most  decisive  importance  upon  the  subsequent  development  of  Eu- 
ropean civilization,  was  not  carried  into  effect  until,  after  the  ex- 
tinction of  the  dynasty  of  Charlemagne  in  Germany,  a  native  ruler 
was  elected.  The  tenth  century  was  a  glorious  age  for  Germany. 
In  striking  contrast  to  the  fierce  dissensions  which  arose  in  the 
Carolingian  family  through  the  insatiate  ambition  of  its  members, 
Otto,  the  noble  duke  of  Saxony,  to  whom  the  new  crown  had  first 
been  offered,  refused  to  accept  the  great  responsibility  for  which 
he  considered  himself  incapacitated  by  his  age,  exerting  his  influ- 
ence for  the  election  of  the  Duke  of  Franconia,  who,  after  an  un- 
certain reign  of  seven  years  as  Conrad  I.,  bequeathed  the  succession 


GERMANY.  25 1 

to  his  enemy,  Henry  the  Fowler,  of  the  Saxon  house,  in  the  noble 
conviction  that  only  the  most  powerful  of  the  German  princes  could 
assert  and  maintain  so  great  a  supremacy.  The  first  two  kings  of 
the  united  realm,  Henry  I.  and  Otto  I.,  raised  Germany  to  the  most 
prominent  position  in  Europe,  and  their  imperial  successors,  Otto 
II.  and  III.  and  Henry  II.,  worthily  carried  on  the  great  work,  at 
least  in  regard  to  the  furtherance  of  civilization. 

The  power  of  France  and  Italy  declined  during  this  period. 
Neither  the  last  of  the  French  Carolingians,  nor  Hugh  Capet  and 
the  first  rulers  of  his  line,  could  successfully  compete  with  the  Ger- 
man kings  of  the  Saxon  house,  who  not  only  added  Lorraine  to 
their  empire,  and  established  a  protectorate  over  Burgundy,  but  ex- 
ercised a  decisive  political  influence  in  the  French  court  itself.  In 
Italy  the  empire  was  renewed  in  an  entirely  different  form  from 
that  which  it  had  assumed  under  Charlemagne,  the  princes  being 
reduced  to  mere  vassals  of  the  supreme  German  empire.  Even 
the  Pope  formed  no  exception  in  this  respect,  as  his  election  was 
made  dependent  upon  the  consent  of  the  Emperor.  England  sank 
from  the  high  position  which  it  had  attained  under  Alfred  the 
Great  and  Canute,  and  the  relations  of  Scandinavia  with  Germany 
were  merely  receptive.  The  only  advance  of  civilization  in  Spain 
at  this  period  was  made  in  the  Moorish  provinces,  while  the  suc- 
cess of  the  Christians,  who  were  arrayed  against  the  unbelievers, 
was  at  first  uncertain.  In  the  east  of  Europe  the  Byzantine  em- 
pire dragged  on  its  long  decrepitude,  severed  from  all  connection 
with  the  culture  of  the  Occident  by  the  Asiatic  hordes  which  had 
forced  their  way  between  Byzantium  and  Germany.  The  most  im- 
portant of  these  invaders,  the  Hungarians,  took  no  part  in  the  civ- 
ilization of  this  epoch,  receiving  the  influence  of  Germany  reluc- 
tantly, as  did  also  the  Bohemians,  the  Poles,  and  the  Wends.  The 
Byzantine  traditions  were  thus  limited  in  Europe  to  the  provinces 
of  ancient  Greece,  to  some  parts  of  Italy,  and  to  the  slowly  devel- 
oping Russian  monarchy.  The  attempt  to  associate  the  civiliza- 
tion of  Byzantium  with  that  of  the  Occident,— made  by  the  Em- 
peror Otto  I.  through  the  marriage  of  his  son  and  successor  Otto 
II.  with  a  Byzantine  princess,— was  without  material  and  lasting 
results. 


252  ROMANIC  ARCHITECTURE. 

It  appeared  at  first  as  if  this  superiority  of  Germany  and  the 
German  emperors  might  be  compatible  with  the  hierarchical  ideas 
which  had  been  developed  even  before  the  age  of  Pope  Gregory 
VII.  No  great  weight  is  to  be  attached,  it  is  true,  to  the 
phrases  at  that  time  often  repeated,  comparing  the  temporal  pow- 
er of  the  Emperor  to  the  body,  and  the  spiritual  control  of  the 
Church  to  the  soul,  or  the  former  to  the  moon  and  the  latter  to 
the  sun ;  still,  it  was  regarded  as  possible  to  create  a  kingdom  of 
God  upon  this  earth  by  the  subordination  of  the  rulers  of  Christen- 
dom to  the  Emperor,  who,  together  with  them,  was  to  bow  before 
the  final  judgment  of  the  priestly  hierarchy  as  pronounced  by  the 
Pope.  This  harmonious  end  might  possibly  have  been  attained 
had  the  Church  been  sufficiently  wise  to  understand  its  limitations. 
The  willingness  of  the  laymen  to  humbly  submit  themselves  to  the 
ecclesiastical  power  was  quite  natural  in  view  of  the  pious  belief 
universal  at  this  period,  and  of  the  monopoly  which  the  priesthood 
then  held  of  all  learning  and  art,  however  superficial  these  may 
have  been.  Knighthood,  especially,  had  received  a  character  so  pe- 
culiarly Christian  that  the  rites  of  the  Church  not  only  shed  a  halo 
around  the  service  of  arms,  but  exacted  the  first  duties  of  chivalry 
for  religious  ends.  This  was  particularly  the  case  during  the  Cru- 
sades, in  which,  however,  the  German  princes  at  first  took  little 
part.  When  they  were  induced  to  join  their  forces  to  this  great 
movement,  the  Church  did  not  gain  the  advantages  from  Germany 
which  it  had  expected,  for  the  conflict  between  the  imperial  and 
the  papal  power  had  at  that  time  already  commenced.  The  Em- 
peror Henry  II.  the  Holy,  a  great  patron  of  the  Church  and  found- 
er of  the  bishopric  of  Bamberg,  had  taken  a  decided  stand  against 
the  interference  of  the  Pope;  and  Henry  III.  the  Salian,  notwith- 
standing his  religious  asceticism,  knew  well  how  to  distinguish  be- 
tween a  humble  piety  and  that  servile  subjugation  to  the  Papacy 
which  brought  to  his  successor  the  catastrophe  of  Canossa. 

Portentous  as  was  the  struggle  between  the  Church  and  State 
in  regard  to  the  political  development  of  the  European  powers,  its 
influence  was  but  little  felt  in  science  and  art.  Princes  and  prin- 
cesses occasionally  appeared  as  patrons  of  letters  and  art ;  but  these 
branches  did  not,  until  the  time  of  the  later  Hohenstaufens,  meet 


GERMANY.  253 

with  that  furtherance  at  the  imperial  court  which  had  distinguished 
the  capital  of  Charlemagne.  Nor  was  the  case  otherwise  with  the 
see  of  Rome,  the  popes  not  taking  an  active  interest  in  these  mat- 
ters until  the  period  of  the  Renaissance.  Scholasticism  and  the 
formative  arts  were  indeed  dependent  upon  the  protection  of  the 
Church,  but  this  was  less  that  of  the  bishoprics  and  cathedral 
schools  than  that  of  the  quiet  chambers  of  the  cloisters, — these 
establishments  taking  no  part  in  the  great  political  conflicts  of 
the  time. 

The  literary  and  artistic  productions  of  the  cloisters  were  of 
very  unequal  merit.  The  former  were  certainly  much  inferior  to 
the  latter:  we  can  attach  but  little  value  to  the  monkish  treat- 
ment of  the  seven  "  free  arts,"  the  trivium,  i.e.,  grammar,  dialectics, 
and  rhetoric,  and  the  quadrivium,  i.e.,  arithmetic,  geometry,  music, 
and  astronomy.  This  shadow  of  the  science  of  the  last  period 
of  Roman  decadence,  this  uncritical  repetition  of  dead  forms,  was, 
it  is  true,  of  less  value  than  the  attempts  to  comprehend  and  to 
explain  the  Christian  doctrines  which  served  as  the  basis  of  the 
scholastic  philosophy.  But  even  the  merits  of  this  exegesis  were 
almost  entirely  restricted  to  a  logical  argument  and  the  consequent 
training  of  intellectual  precision,  while  subjective  freedom,  in  the 
emancipation  from  the  belief  in  authority,  and  a  true  understanding 
of  nature,  was  not  attained  in  the  slightest  degree.  The  artistic 
results  were  of  greater  importance,  notably  in  monumental  archi- 
tecture,—  the  branch  chiefly  cultivated  throughout  the  Middle 
Ages.* 

The  chief  artistic  activity  of  the  Carolingian  epoch  had  been 
leveloped  in  the  districts  west  of  the  Rhine,  the  greater  part  of 
Germany  having  the  character  of  a  colony  which  had  yet  to  re- 

*  H.  Otte,  Geschichte  der  romanischen  Baukunst  in  Deutschland.  Leipzig,  1874.— 
The  same,  Handbuch  der  kirchlichen  Kunst,  Archseologie  des  Mittelalters,  5th  edition, 
^eipzig,  1884. — L.  Puttrrch,  Denkmale  der  deutschen  Baukunst  des  Mittelalters  in  Sach- 
en,  Leipzig,  1835-1852.— C.  W.  Hase  and  others,  Die  mittelalterlichen  Baudenkmaler 
Niedersachsens.  Hannover,  1856-1882.— H.  von  Dehn-Rotfelser  and  L.  Hoffmann,  Mil- 
telalterliche  Baudenkmaler  in  Kurhessen.  Cassel,  1866.— F.  Bock,  Rheinlands  Baudenk- 
male  des  Mittelalters.  Koln  and  Neuss  (without  date).— E.  Forster,  Denkmaler  deut- 
her  Baukunst.  Leipzig  (without  date). 


254  ROMANIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

ceive  a  higher  civilization.  It  has  been  seen  in  the  preceding  chap- 
ter how  few  of  the  monuments  of  Carolingian  art  existed  in  this 
great  tract,— the  country  to  the  east  of  the  outposts  of  Fulda, 
Corvey,  and  St.  Gall  remaining  entirely  without  traces  of  artistic 
activity.  Less  favored  than  France,  this  part  of  Germany  lacked 
the  suggestive  example  of  antique  remains,  and  works  of  art  were 
only  met  with  in  those  places  which  had  been  founded  by  foreign- 
ers, or  had  developed  under  the  influence  of  foreign  traditions. 
This  was  the  case  with  Fulda  and  St.  Gall,  the  settlements  of 
British  and  Irish  missionaries,  and  with  Corvey,  a  branch  of  the 
French  cloister  of  Corbie. 

In  the  Romanic  period  this  state  of  affairs  was  entirely  changed. 
The  brilliant  rise  of  Germany  under  the  Ottos  was  not  without  its 
monumental  expression.  The  development  was  not  felt  in  the 
same  measure  throughout  the  whole  empire,  a  great  part  of  the 
lowlands  of  the  north  and  the  whole  of  the  south  of  Germany  re- 
taining, until  late  in  the  eleventh  century,  the  primitive  timbered 
constructions ;  but  in  Saxony,  towards  the  close  of  the  tenth  cen- 
tury, there  appeared  a  most  successful  architectural  activity.  This 
was  especially  the  case  on  the  slopes  of  the  Hartz  Mountains, — a 
district  which  had  previously  been  without  important  buildings. 
This  had  been  the  home  of  the  House  of  Saxony,  the  members  of 
which  were  there  educated,  and  there  delighted  to  dwell ;  there 
the  dowagers  retired  to  spend  their  remaining  days  in  a  cloistered 
seclusion,  and  there  almost  all  the  Saxon  monarchs  found  their  last 
resting-place.  The  Hartz  thus  offered  the  greatest  possible  oppor- 
tunities for  the  development  of  monumental  architecture. 

The  style  of  the  buildings  of  the  Carolingians  was  based  as 
much  upon  that  of  Byzantium  and  Ravenna  as  upon  that  of  Rome. 
In  the  German  architecture  of  the  tenth  century,  however,  the  for- 
mer influence  wholly  disappears,  the  churches,  almost  without  ex- 
ception, being  of  the  basilical  type.  The  Roman  elements  were  not 
marred,  as  in  the  preceding  epoch,  by  a  barbarous  misunderstanding 
and  a  lack  of  technical  ability,  but  were  improved,  both  in  design 
and  execution,  by  well  devised  and  judicious  innovations.  In  this 
case  the  alterations  of  plan  and  details  did  not  result  from  obtuse- 
ness  of  appreciation  and  a  want  of  practical  experience,  but  rather 


GERMANY. 


255 


from  a  desire  to  find  a  means  of  artistic  expression  better  adapted 
to  the  emancipated  taste  of  the  age  than  an  unqualified  imitation 
of  the  antique  could  be.  And  this  change  was  not  made  in  isolated 
instances  alone,  but  radically  and  systematically.  The  works  of  the 
period  consequently  do  not  convey  the  impression  of  a  laborious 
attempt  to  regenerate  the  classic  style,  but  seem  to  be  endowed 
with  a  new  life.  Instead  of  the  senility  and  decrepitude  of  early 
Christian  and  even  of  Carolingian  architecture, — instead  of  the  stif- 
fened and  mannered  forms  of  Byzantine  art, — we  recognize  in  the 
Romanic  structures  the  rapid  and  powerful  advance  of  a  youthful 
style.  This  fresh  activity  was,  it  is  true,  almost  entirely  limited 
to  ecclesiastical  constructions,  but  we  must  remember  that  in  the 
unrivalled  architecture  of  Greece,  at  least  during  the  archaic  period, 


Fig-  I35- — Plan  of  a  Normal  Romanic  Basilica,  that  of  Hecklingen. 

the  temples  were  by  far  more  important  than  the  civic  or  domestic 
buildings. 

The  independence  of  the  architectural  conceptions  is  evident 
in  the  transformation  of  plan,  to  which  even  the  canonized  basilical 
arrangement  was  submitted.  The  Germans  had  begun  in  the  Caro- 
lingian period  to  construct,  underneath  the  eastern  chancel,  a  crypt, 
which  was  employed  for  the  tombs  of  patrons,  bishops,  abbots,  and 
even  of  royal  founders,  being  provided  with  altars  for  the  funeral 
masses.  These  subterranean  churches,  planned,  of  course,  with  ref- 
erence to  a  vaulted  construction,  were  not  only  extended  beyond 
the  choir  to  the  space  underneath  the  transept,  but  were  increased 
in  altitude,  so  that  at  least  half  of  their  height  was  above  ground, 
thus  requiring  the  pavement  of  the  corresponding  parts  of  the 


ROMANIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

church  to  be  elevated,  and  made  accessible  by  several  steps.  The 
result  was  a  difference  in  level  entirely  foreign  to  the  early  Chris- 
tian  basilica,  the  presbytery  being  more  effectively  separated  from 
the  body  of  the  church  than  it  had  formerly  been  by  the  balus- 
trades and  gratings. 

In  the  basilica,  as,  for  instance,  in  S.  Clemente  in  Rome,  the  en- 
closure of  the  chancel  had  often  been  extended  far  into  the  main 
aisle,  in  order  to  gain  the  necessary  space  for  the  performance  of 
the  ceremonial.  But  during  the  Merovingian  period,  at  least  in 
France,  this  was  effected  in  a  more  satisfactory  manner  by  a  com- 
bination of  the  cruciform  with  the  basilical  plan  (compare  page 
209).  This  combination  continued  to  be  developed  by  a  succession 
of  highly  important  improvements.  The  first  of  these  consisted 
in  placing  lateral  apses  upon  the  eastern  wall,  as  subsidiary  choirs 


Fig.  136. — Plan  of  the  Romanic  Basilica  of  Paulinzelle. 

in  the  continuation  of  the  axes  of  the  side  aisles,  so  that  these 
were  terminated  in  the  same  manner  as  was  the  nave  by  the  main 
apse  (Fig.  135).  This  met  the  requirement  of  the  multiplied  cere- 
monial centres  in  a  much  more  satisfactory  way  than  did  the  intro- 
duction of  altars  before  the  columns  of  the  central  aisle,  after  the 
manner  of  the  Carolingian  plan  of  St.  Gall.  These  lateral  apses 
were  readily  enlarged  to  separate  chapels  by  extending  the  side 
aisles,  as  well  as  the  nave,  beyond  the  transept, — this  step  result- 
ing in  a  great  improvement  of  the  exterior  by  the  increased  num- 
ber of  the  semicircular  projections  upon  the  eastern  wall  of  the 
transept  (Fig.  136). 

The  extension  of  the  side  aisles  beyond  the  transept  soon  led 
to  the  continuation  of  the  subsidiary  choir  entirely  around  the 
main  apse,  the  columns  of  the  nave  forming  the  boundary  of  the 


GERMANY. 


original  chancel,  while  the  outer  wall  of  the  surrounding  passage 
was  provided  with  smaller  semicircular  niches  for  altars  (Fig.  137). 
This  passage  appears,  at  least  in  principle,  in  the  Church  of  St. 
Wipertus  at  Quedlinburg,  and  in  the  plan  of  St.  Gall.  In  the  lat- 
ter, however,  it  is  still  separated  from  the  main  apse  by  a  wall  in- 
stead of  by  columns.  It  is  possible  that  the  innovation  was  adopt- 
ed in  the  Carolingian  structure  of  St.  Mary  of  the  Capitol  in  Co- 
logne, the  fine  presbytery  of  which  (Fig.  170),  repeating  in  the 
transepts  the  forms  of  the  choir,  may  be  based  in  arrangement 
upon  the  original  plan  of  Plectrudis.  There  is  consequently  no 
sufficient  reason  to  assume  that  Bishop  Bernward  of  Hildesheim, 
who  was  present  at  the  canonization  of  St.  Godehard  by  the  Coun- 


•Otv. 

Fig-  I37-— Plan  of  the  Church  of  St.  Godehard,  Hildesheim. 

cil  of  Rheims  in  A.  D.  1131,  introduced  from  France  the  improve- 
ment of  plan  evident  in  the  Church  of  St.  Godehard  at  Hildesheim, 
which  was  consecrated  by  him  two  years  later, — nor  is  it  proved 
that  the  bishop,  during  his  journey,  visited  Burgundy  or  Auvergne, 
the  districts  in  which  this  form  first  appears.  At  all  events,  the 
plan  of  the  choir  of  St.  Godehard  remained  an  exception,  while 
the  symmetrical  disposition  of  the  apses  in  St.  Mary  of  the  Capitol 
was  frequently  imitated  in  the  neighborhood  of  Cologne. 

No  less  important  were  the  alterations  of  the  western  front. 
In  place  of  the  paradisus  portico,  or  narthex,  of  the  basilica,  which 
at  this  time  had  almost  entirely  disappeared,  there  was  frequently 
introduced  a  repetition  of  the  eastern  main  apse,  with  or  without 
the  intervention  of  a  second  transept.  This  innovation  has  already 

17 


258 


ROMANIC   ARCHITECTURE. 


been  met  with  in  the  plan  of  St.  Gall.  The  western  part  of  the 
church  often  took  the  shape  of  a  vestibule  of  the  same  width  as 
the  nave,  but  of  greater  height,  with  portals  below,  and  opened 
above  to  the  interior  so  as  to  form  a  gallery  which  in  later  times 
was  employed  as  the  organ  loft.  When  this  was  not  itself  carried 
up  as  a  belfry  it  was  flanked  by  two  towers,  the  plan  and  position 
of  which  varied  greatly  in  different  instances.  At  first  they  were 
generally  round,  like  those  indicated  upon  the  plan  of  St.  Gall. 
In  that  design  they  did  not  immediately  adjoin  the  body  of  the 

church,  but  it  is  known  from  documenta- 
ry evidence  that  such  a  connection  ex- 
isted in  the  cloister  of  Reichenau  as  early 
as  A.D.  991.  It  was  difficult  to  effect  an 
organic  conjunction  between  the  round 
plan  of  such  towers  and  the  rectangular 
forms  of  the  other  parts  of  the  building. 
In  the  cathedrals  of  Mayence  and  Treves 
(Fig.  156)  the  round  towers  are  but  slight- 
ly connected  with  the  exterior  walls  of 
the  western  transept ;  while  in  the  Church 
of  St.  Michael  at  Hildesheim  (Fig.  153) 
the  circular  plan  of  the  towers  adjoining 
both  sides  of  the  two  transepts  is  trans- 
formed in  the  lower  part  into  a  polygon. 
The  Collegiate  Church  at  Gernrode,  on 
the  contrary,  has  towers  of  this  kind  sit- 
uated in  the  angles  formed  by  the  front 
walls  of  the  aisles  and  the  sides  of  a  vestibule  of  the  same  width 
as  the  nave.  The  imperfections  of  such  arrangements  naturally 
caused  the  preference  to  be  given  to  towers  of  square  plan,  which 
rendered  it  possible  to  effect  an  organic  connection  between  them 
and  the  basilica,  and  led  to  the  series  of  experiments  culminating 
in  the  mighty  structures  rising  above  the  intersection  of  the  tran- 
sept and  the  body  of  the  church. 

Among  the  architectural  members  of  the  interior  changed  dur- 
ing the  eleventh  century,  the  most  noteworthy  is  the  column  (Fig. 
138).  The  base  retained  the  regular  Attic  mouldings,  which  have 


Fig.  138. — Typical  Romanic 
Column. 


GERMANY. 


259 


continued  almost  unaltered  in  all  ages,  but  the  independence  of 
the  Romanic  treatment  is  recognizable  in  the  steeper  outline,  and 
especially  in  a  peculiar  addition  which  appears  shortly  before  the 
beginning  of  the  twelfth  century,  through  which  the  square  plinth 
and  the  lower  tore  of  the  base  were  brought  into  a  more  organic 
connection.  In  like  manner  as  the  inventor  of  the  Roman  Co- 
rinthian capital  effected  the  transition  between  the  circular  termi- 
nation of  the  calix  with  the  square  abacus  by  means  of  four  spirally 
curled  projections,  the  Romanic  architect  added  four  knobs,  shaped 
like  pods,  or  leaves,  to  the  lower  tore  of  the  base,  so  that  a  con- 
nection was  effected  between  the  round  plan  and  profile  of  this 
member  and  the  rectangular  corners  of  the  plinth,  which  was  ad- 
vantageous both  in  aesthetic  and  practical  respects.  The  shafts  of 


r 


Fig.  139. — Capitals  from  Huyseburg. 

the  columns  were  somewhat  shorter  and  more  diminished  than  had 
>een  customary  in  the  classic  epoch.  The  entasis  was  entirely  given 
ip,  and  upper  and  lower  apophyges  were  not  attempted,  their  exe- 
:ution  presenting  too  great  difficulties  for  the  stone-cutters  of  the 

Romanic  epoch.  Fluting  was  very  rare,  being  replaced  in  those 
rases  where  an  especial  richness  of  effect  was  desired,  as  in  the  por- 
tals, crypts,  etc.,  by  a  decoration  of  the  shaft  with  linear,  floral,  or 
mimal  patterns. 

The  most  remarkable  innovation  was  the  Romanic  capital,  which 
ippears  to  have  been  first  brought  into  general  use  in  Saxony,  at  a 
time  when  in  the  Rhenish  countries  the  traditional  forms  of  the 

Corinthian    capital  were   still   retained.      It   is   unquestionably  true 


26o 


ROMANIC   ARCHITECTURE. 


that  the  formation  of  the  Romanic  cube  capital  answers  the  re- 
quirements of  a  projecting  transition  from  the  circular  plan  of  the 
shaft  to  the  square  plan  of  the  abacus,  not  only  in  a  more  pleasing 
manner  than  did  the  trapeze-shaped  capital  of  the  Byzantine  style, 
but  more  naturally  than  did  many  of  the  later  capitals  of  antiquity. 
The  convex  lower  part  corresponds  to  the  curve  of  the  Doric  echi- 
nus, and  gives  a  more  vigorous  and  organic  character  to  the  medi- 
ating member  than  did  the  weak  concave  of  the  Corinthian  calix. 
The  remaining  sides  of  the  cube  take  the  place  of  the  abacus, 
which  in  the  Doric  capital  was  separated  from  the  echinus,  while 
the  mouldings  above,  increasing  the  projection,  emphasize  the  ter- 
minating plinth.  On  the  whole,  it  may  be  said  that  in  the  Ro- 


Fig.  140. — Capitals  from  Hamersleben  and  Alpirsbach. 

manic  column  the  Corinthian  model  was  assimilated  in  character  to 
the  Doric,  in  the  same  way  as  in  the  Tuscan  order  the  Doric  style 
had  approached  the  Ionic. 

This  normal  form  of  the  capital  served  as  the  basis  for  the  most 
varied  modifications.  There  were  many  stages  in  the  development 
of  the  shape  from  a  cube,  as  well  as  in  the  combination  of  several 
chapiters  to  a  single  capital,  which  latter  appears  as  the  forerunner  of 
the  terminations  above  the  bundles  of  shafts  common  in  the  Gothic 
style.  The  sculptured  decorations  of  the  four  upright  surfaces,  or 
of  the  entire  capital,  resulted  in  a  great  variety  of  forms  even  in 
one  and  the  same  building.  There  was  no  attempt  to  observe  the 
strict  uniformity  of  type  maintained  in  the  antique  styles,  the  deco- 
rations being  entirely  independent,  and  determined  only  by  the  in- 


GERMANY. 


26l 


dividual  imagination  of  the  designer, — a  continual  change  being,  in 
fact,  the  most  imperative  principle.  In  a  great  number  of  cases 
more  or  less  distinct  reminiscences  of  the  original  Corinthian  leaves 
and  spirals  are  evident,  though  such  close  imitations  as  the  capitals 
of  St.  Willibrord  at  Echternach,  or  such  misshapen  attempts  as 
those  of  the  chapel  of  St.  Bartholomew  at  Paderborn,  are  rare.  The 
varied  treatment  of  the  type  is  generally  both  original  and  in  good 
taste  (Fig.  139).  Instead  of  the  floral  forms  there  often  appear  imi- 
tations of  the  ancient  Northern  interwoven  patterns,  at  times  in 
simple  linear  braiding,  but  more  frequently  with  the  introduction 
of  the  figures  of  human  beings  and  monstrous  animals  (Fig.  140). 
Both  of  these  latter  varieties  have  occasionally  a  fantastic  and  con- 


Fig.  141.— Capitals  from  the  Abbey  Church  of  Brauweiler. 

fused  character,  the  fantastic  subjects  being  not  only  beyond  all 
explanation,  but  represented  in  a  manner  entirely  contrary  to  the 
fundamental  principles  of  the  architectural  member  to  which  they 
are  applied  (Fig.  141).  In  some  instances,  especially  in  profane 
buildings,  these  decorations  attain  to  a  richness  and  grace  of  effect 
which  would  be  inexplicable  without  the  influence  of  Oriental  de- 
signs. The  best  works  are  met  with  in  those  districts  where  the 
elements  of  both  the  classical  and  the  Northern  systems  of  orna- 
mentation were  combined  and  blended,  this  being  indeed  the  fun- 
damental character  of  the  Romanic  style  in  its  perfection.  The 
normal  type  of  the  capital  is  altered  in  the  most  various  ways  to 
suit  the  requirements  of  its  decoration.  The  transition  between 
the  shaft  and  the  cube  is  sometimes  not  convex  but  concave,  this 


262 


ROMANIC   ARCHITECTURE. 


latter  form  being  better  adapted  to  the  application  of  foliage  simi- 
lar to  that  of  the  Corinthian  order.  In  rare  cases  the  same  member 
is  employed  for  the  base  as  well  as  for  the  capital,  the  cube  being 
reversed  for  the  support,  as  in  the  Nonnberg,  near  Salzburg,  and 
the  crypt  of  the  Cathedral  at  Brandenburg,  or  a  member  similar  in 


-r* 


Fig.  142.— System  of 
the  Cloister  Church 
of  Paulinzelle. 


Fig.  143.— System  of  the  Col- 
legiate Church  of  Gern- 
rode. 


Fig.  144. — System  of  the  Col- 
legiate Church  of  St.  Mi- 
chael, Hildesheim. 


character  to  a  base,  serving  for  the  capital,  as  in  Poetnitz,  near  Des- 
sau. Although  the  poverty  of  ideas  is  unpleasantly  felt,  a  certain 
constructive  logic  cannot  be  denied  to  this  duplication. 

In  the  crypts  columns  are  almost  exclusively  employed  for  the 
supports;  in  the  superstructure,  on  the  other  hand,  piers  were  fre- 


GERMANY. 


263 


quently  introduced  (Fig.  142).  Even  in  the  earliest  Saxon  works 
the  supports  which  divide  the  nave  from  the  side  isles  frequently 
exhibit  an  effective  alternation  of  square  piers  with  round  shafts. 
And  in  the  construction  of  the  early  Christian  basilica  many  at- 
tempts had  been  made  to  relieve  the  columns  from  a  portion  of 


-7m.hr. 


Fig.  145. — System  of  the  Church  of 
Druebeck. 


Fig.  146. —  System  of 
the  Church  of  Our 
Lady  at  Halberstadt. 


Fig.  147.  —  System 
of  the  Church  of 
Thalbuergel. 


the  weight  imposed  upon  them  by  means  of  isolated  piers,  dis- 
charging arches,  etc.  These  precautions  became  the  more  necessary 
in  the  architecture  of  the  Romanic  period,  as  the  thickness,  and 
:onsequently  the  weight,  of  the  clerestory  walls  had  been  increased 
in  a  greater  proportion  than  had  the  strength  of  the  shafts.  Instead 


ROMANIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

of  allowing  this  makeshift  to  be  felt  as  a  concession  to  the  con- 
structive requirements,  it  was  elevated  to  a  rhythmical  system,  most 
satisfactory  from  an  artistic  point  of  view.  Whether  one  (Fig.  143) 
or  two  columns  (Fig.  144)  were  placed  between  the  piers,  a  regular 
alternation  of  stronger  and  weaker  members,  symmetrically  disposed 
upon  either  side  of  the  nave,  conveyed  the  effect  of  the  trochaic  or 
dactylic  rhythm  of  a  verse.  This  impression  was  heightened  when 
the  grouping  was  repeated  by  the  gallery  openings  (Fig.  143),  or,  as 
was  more  frequently  the  case,  by  arches  in  relief,  which  were  ex- 
tended above  the  columns  from  pier  to  pier,  so  that  three  (Fig.  145) 
or  more  supports  were  brought  into  intimate  connection. 

The  value  of  the  pier  in  the  construction  of  the  clerestory  wall 
having  thus  become  apparent,  it  naturally  resulted  that  the  round 
supports  were  more  and  more  replaced  by  those  of  square  plan. 
The  bare  and  inartistic  character  of  the  pier  (Fig.  146),  when  con- 
trasted with  the  more  graceful  and  ornamental  column,  was  ovef- 
come  in  a  manner  similar  to  that  by  which  the  Romans  masked 
their  arcades,  with  engaged  columns  and  entablatures  in  relief. 
Something  was  gained  by  the  chamfering,  especially  when  it  was 
combined  with  flutings  and  elaborate  chamfer-stops.  This  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  addition  of  small  engaged  columns,  three-quarters 
round,  to  the  corners  thus  cut  away, — the  first  step  towards  the 
resolution  of  the  pier  into  a  bundle  of  shafts.  At  first  little  more 
was  attempted  than  a  merely  decorative  combination  of  columns 
with  the  pier,  although  engaged  shafts  were  occasionally  added  to 
the  narrow  sides  of  the  support,  and  continued  as  mouldings  around 
the  soffit  of  the  arch  (Fig.  147).  The  most  important  introduction 
of  such  engaged  columns, — on  the  sides  of  the  piers  towards  the 
nave  and  the  aisle, — was  not  made  until  the  horizontal  ceiling  of 
wood  had  been  exchanged  for  a  vault  of  masonry,  concerning  which 
we  shall  speak  hereafter. 

The  ranges  of  columns,  with  or  without  alternating  piers,  were 
always  connected  by  arches,  at  first  in  perfectly  plain  arcades,  like 
those  of  the  early  Christian  basilicas.  As  before  mentioned,  it  was 
only  in  rare  cases  (Fig.  143)  that  an  attempt  was  made  to  relieve  the 
weaker  columns  by  discharging  arches  which  extended  from  pier  to 
pier,  surmounting  two  smaller  arcades.  The  inner  sides  of  the 


GERMANY. 


26: 


clerestory  walls  were  frequently  provided  with  mouldings  of  slight 
projection,  which  arose  vertically  from  the  middle  of  each  support 
to  a  horizontal  cornice  (Figs.  142  and  147).  When  piers  were  em- 
ployed the  sharp  angles  of  the  arches  were  chamfered  or  beaded, 
like  the  corners  of  the  supports  beneath  them. 

The  walls  of  the  first  Romanic  churches,  like  those  of  the  early 


Fig.  148. — Interior  of  the  Collegiate  Church  of  Gernrode. 

Christian  basilicas,  were  generally  perfectly  plain,  the  only  member- 
lent  being  the  clerestory  windows.  It  was  only  in  rare  cases  that 
the  galleries,  like  the  upper  stories  of  the  Byzantine  basilicas,  were 
introduced  above  the  side  aisles,  and  these  were  always  low,  and  im- 
mediately beneath  the  lean-to  roofs  (Figs.  143  and  148).  The  win- 
dows were  small,  and  remained  of  the  same  shape  and  proportions 
as  those  of  the  early  Christian  basilica,  being  generally  arranged  in 


266 


ROMANIC   ARCHITECTURE. 


\ 


\ 


the  axes  of  the  arcades.  The  shape  of  their  jambs,  soffits,  and  sills 
was,  however,  altered  in  a  most  advantageous  manner.  The  rectan- 
gular section  of  the  window  openings  of  the  classic  styles  was  found 
to  be  attended  with  practical  difficulties  so  great  in  the  rainy  coun- 
tries of  the  North,  that  the  outer  sill  was  cut  away  in  a  steep  angle, 
to  assure  the  water  running  off,  and  the  adoption  of  this  cham- 
fering upon  all  sides,  both  within  and  without,  soon  followed,  as  it 
became  evident  that  an  equal  amount  of  light  was  thus  to  be  ob- 
tained notwithstanding  the  greater  thickness  of  the  walls  and  the 
reduction  of  the  glazed  aperture  (Fig.  149).  Both  the  transept  and 
the  extension  of  the  choir  beyond  it  were  provided  with  windows 
like  those  of  the  nave.  Smaller  round  arched  windows  appeared 

upon  the  walls  of  the  side  aisles 
and  of  the  apses,  the  latter  of 
which  had  previously  been  with- 
out any  openings  for  the  admis- 
sion of  light.  The  ceiling  was 
horizontal,  like  that  of  the  basil- 
icas, but  open  timbered  roofs  were 
usually  avoided,  the  tie-beams  be- 
ing panelled  and  decorated  with 
simple  colors.  During  the  earliest 
period  vaults  appeared  only  in  the 
crypts  and  apses, —  in  the  former 

most  commonly  as  cross-vaults,  in  the  latter  always  as  conches, — 
their  rude  and  massive  masonry  restricting  all  spans  to  the  small- 
est possible  dimensions. 

The  exterior  of  the  first  churches  of  the  Romanic  period  is  dis- 
tinguished from  that  of  the  basilical  models  by  three  characteristic 
traits :  the  cornice-arches,  the  portals,  and  the  towers.  The  first  of 
these  entirely  replaced,  at  least  in  Germany,  the  barbarous  zigzag 
terminations  of  walls  formed  by  inclined  bricks.  It  was  founded 
upon  the  so-called  corbel-table,  which  had  developed  from  the  an- 
tique modillion  cornice.  In  like  manner  as  the  horizontal  entab- 
lature, which  originally  connected  the  columns,  had  been  replaced 
by  arcades,  the  consoles  were  here  made  to  support  a  system  of 
small  arches, — the  adoption  of  semicircular  archivolts  in  the  place 


Fig.  149. — Section  of  Early  Christian  and 
Romanic  Windows. 


GERMANY.  267 

of  horizontal  beams,  which  had  been  carried  out  in  the  interior 
being  thus  expressed  in  the  decorations  of  the  outer  cornices. 
This  exterior  repetition  of  the  inner  system  of  arcades  became 
more  pronounced  when,  in  later  times,  the  most  prominent  parts 
were  provided  with  a  gallery  of  diminutive  columns  instead  of  the 
cornice-arches ;  but  even  in  the  simpler  forms  the  diminished  and 
repeated  arcades,  though  not  projected  upon  consoles,  are  readily 
recognizable  and  of  excellent  effect.  This  was  especially  the  case 
when  this  horizontal  termination  was  combined  with  the  vertical 
projections  which  were  employed  to  strengthen  the  angles  of  the 
building,  as  well  as  to  indicate  upon  the  walls  of  the  exterior  the 
position  of  the  columns,  or  piers,  within.  These  pilaster-strips  had 
appeared  in  a  single  instance  in  Ravenna  (Fig.  19),  but  the  connec- 
tion of  the  uprights  adopted  in  S.  Apollinare  in  Classe  was  de- 
cidedly inferior  to  the  graceful  play  of  the  Romanic  arches,  which 
combined  a  pleasing  cornice  with  the  vertical  memberment.  The 
mouldings  surmounting  the  corbel-table,  sometimes  only  a  plinth, 
though  generally  a  rounded  scotia  and  tore,  had  but  slight  projec- 
tion, and  were  at  first  but  little  decorated. 

In  the  earliest  period  of  the  Romanic  style  the  inclined  sides 
of  the  windows  were  perfectly  plain.  It  was  only  upon  the  apses 
that  the  apertures  were  surrounded  by  pilasters  or  engaged  col- 
umns, surmounted  by  arches  in  relief,  these  being  repeated  upon 
the  outer  walls  of  the  crypt,  in  order  to  designate  the  important 
site  of  the  altar  niche  upon  the  exterior  by  a  more  elaborate  dec- 
oration. It  was  in  this  connection  that  the  dwarf  galleries  first 
appeared  in  place  of  the  arched  cornice.  Particular  attention  was 
devoted  to  the  development  of  the  portals,  the  correct  principle, — 
that  the  entrance  as  well  as  the  apse  should  give  artistic  expres- 
sion to  the  character  of  the  interior, — governing  their  arrangement, 
they  holding,  as  it  were,  the  same  relation  to  the  entire  structure 
as  does  an  overture  to  the  musical  creation  which  it  precedes.  Al- 
though the  portal  corresponded  in  size  to  the  dimensions  of  the 
mtire  monument,  it  was  so  designed  that  the  swinging  doors  were 
lot  so  large  as  to  interfere  with  their  practical  usefulness,  thus 
ivoiding  the  disadvantages  which  had  made  themselves  felt  in  the 
loors  of  the  temples  of  the  ancients.  This  was  effected  by  the 


268 


ROMANIC   ARCHITECTURE. 


adoption  of  an  inclined  section  for  the  jambs  and  soffits,  as  in  the 
windows,  the  necessary  dimensions  and  the  requisite  surfaces  for 
decorative  treatment  being  provided  by  making  the  entire  splay 
upon  the  outside,  and  in  some  instances  even  extending  the  portal 
beyond  the  front  surface  of  the  wall.  The  portals  thus  became 
three  or  four  times  as  large  as  the  real  door,  which  remained,  even 
in  the  largest  churches,  of  so  moderate  dimensions  that  it  could 
be  easily  opened  and  shut  (Figs.  150  and  151).  The  interior  con- 
struction of  the  building  was  set  forth  in  the  artistic  treatment  of 
the  sides  of  the  portal  and  of  the  semicircular  tympanon  when 
this  was  introduced  :  the  former  giving,  as  it  were,  a  perspective 


Fig.  150.— Portal  of  Altenzelle. 


Fig.  151. — Portal  of  Thalbuergel. 


view  of  the  piers  and  columns  of  the  nave,  and  the  latter  indicat- 
ing the  divine  character  of  the  building  by  a  sculptured  or  painted 
representation  of  the  altar  niche  with  its  sacred  figures.  The  por- 
tals of  the  Gothic  period  occasionally  surpassed  those  of  the  Ro- 
manic style  in  elaboration  and  imposing  dimensions,  but  never  in 
organic  composition  or  thoughtfulness  of  design. 

The  portals  were  generally  more  richly  decorated  than  any  other 
parts  of  the  building.  Not  only  the  capitals  but  even  the  shafts  of 
the  columns  were  covered  with  carved  decorations,  which,  by  the 
floral  character  and  the  spiral  arrangement  of  their  patterns,  resem- 
ble the  festive  ornaments  of  entwined  wreaths  and  garlands.  The 

o 


GERMANY. 


269 


arches  of  round  and  angular  section  were  also  ornamented,  but 
more  commonly  with  geometrical  designs.  It  was  here  that  the 
patterns  peculiar  to  the  Romanic  style  first  appeared,  namely,  the 
billet-mouldings,  checkers,  chevrons,  scales,  diamonds,  etc.  (Fig.  152). 
Carvings  of  figures  were  at  first  restricted  to  the  tympanon,  but 
were  extended  in  later  times  to  the  members  of  the  splay,  and 
even  to  the  adjoining  wall  surfaces.  Among  the  Romanic  edifices 
with  horizontal  ceilings,  the  most  elaborate  sculptures  are  those  of 
the  Church  of  St.  James  in  Ratisbon,  which  is,  however,  of  com- 
paratively late  date. 

The  towers  of  the  Romanic  style  may  be  divided  into  two 
classes.  As  has  been  explained  in  the  consideration  of  the  early 
arrangement  of  plan,  those  flanking  the  ends  of  the  transepts  were 


Fig.  152. — Romanic  Decorations. 

at  first  of  round  or  polygonal  section  (Fig.  153).  After  the  adoption 
of  the  square  plan  the  larger  structures  were  usually  provided  with 
four  towers,  placed  in  the  angles  formed  by  the  transepts  or  by  the 
vestibule  with  the  body  of  the  church.  In  the  treatment  of  their 
wall  surfaces  with  pilaster-strips  and  corbel-tables  they  resembled 
the  side  aisles  and  clerestory,  thus  forming  a  connection  between 
the  memberment  of  the  sides  of  the  building  and  that  of  the  front 
of  the  choir.  The  stories  of  the  towers  were  decreased  in  height  as 
they  ascended,  the  louver  windows  being  formed  by  two  or  three 
irched  apertures,  separated  by  small  columns.  This  gave  the  agree- 
ible  effect  of  a  more  elaborate  and  light  construction  of  the  upper 
>arts,  the  progressive  diminution  of  the  stories  making  the  pile 
ippear  higher  than  it  in  reality  was.  The  pyramidal  roofs  of  the 
towers  were  generally  of  a  steeper  angle  than  those  of  the  other 


ROMANIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

parts  of  the  building,  although  the  inclination  of  the  gables  had 
been  increased  throughout  by  the  exigencies  of  the  northern  cli- 
mate. The  towers  of  the  second  class  were  erected  above  the  in- 
tersection of  the  main  aisle  and  the  transept.  The  square  plan 
naturally  led  here  to  the  adoption  of  a  rectangular  or  polygonal 
superstructure,  which  by  its  extent  if  not  by  its  height  became 
even  more  prominent  than  the  flanking  towers.  In  the  larger 
churches,  with  two  transepts,  the  square  towers  were  repeated 
above  both  intersections,  increasing  the  effect  of  duplication  which 
had  been  first  determined  by  the  introduction  of  an  apse  upon  the 
western  side. 


Fig.  153. — Church  of  St.  Michael  at  Hildesheim. 

The  early  Romanic  architecture  of  Germany  did  not  develop  in 
regular  sequence  or  simultaneously  in  all  the  provinces  according 
to  the  principles  here  set  forth.  The  period  of  advance  was  very 
different  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  while  the  mode  of  de- 
velopment varied  according  to  local  circumstances,  and  especially 
to  the  influence  of  the  classic  traditions.  Here  the  progress  was 
rapid,  there  slow;  in  some  districts  it  was  organic  and  thorough, 
while  in  others  it  was  retarded  by  conservative  and  eclectic  ten- 
dencies. The  pre-eminence  of  Saxony  has  already  been  referred  to. 
Nevertheless,  the  constructions  of  the  first  Saxon  king,  Henry  the 
Fowler,  who  died  in  936,  were  of  very  slight  artistic  importance,  and 
chiefly  restricted  to  the  hasty  building  of  rough  walls,  like  those 


GERMANY.  27 1 

of  Quedlinburg,  Merseburg,  Meissen,  Goslar,  Brunswick,  Nordhau- 
sen,  etc.  His  palaces  were  for  the  greater  part  of  wood  ;  that  of 
Merseburg,  it  is  true,  is  especially  mentioned  as  a  two-storied  struct- 
ure of  stone,  but  it  probably  consisted  only  of  an  extremely  coarse 
masonry  of  unhewn  stones.  This  supposition  is  not  contradicted 
by  the  mention  of  mural  paintings  executed  in  933  in  the  "  upper 
hall."  The  nature  of  the  original  construction  of  Dankwarderode 
or  Brunswic,  founded  by  Dankward  and  Bruno,  the  uncles  of  Henry, 
is  not  at  all  evident  from  the  later  remains  recently  discovered 
upon  their  site.  The  cloisters  and  churches  of  the  period  were 
likewise  rude  and  mean  ;  the  most  important  among  them  seems 
to  have  been  the  establishment  of  St.  Servatius  at  Quedlinburg, 
the  seat  of  the  dowager  queen  Mathilde.  The  few  remains  which 
date  to  this  epoch,  such  as  the  crypt  of  the  former  church  of  St. 
Wipertus,  display  extreme  roughness  and  want  of  practice  in  the 
imitation  of  the  classical  forms,  as  well  as  in  the  arrangement  of 
plan  and  the  execution  of  the  construction.  The  columns  have 
partly  calix,  partly  trapeze -shaped  capitals,  while  the  central  pier 
has  retained  some  semblance  of  Ionic  forms.  These  members,  as 
well  as  the  barbarous  horizontal  cornices  which  support  the  barrel 
vaults  above  them,  show  no  trace  of  the  beginnings  of  a  new 
architectural  style,  but  rather  the  last  stage  of  debasement  of  an- 
tique details.  The  same  is  the  case  with  the  architectural  mem- 
bers which  have  been  preserved  in  the  western  crypt  of  the  Palace 
Church  at  Quedlinburg. 

The  earliest  memorial  of  the  development  of  the  Romanic  style 
in  Saxony  is  without  doubt  the  Collegiate  Church  ofGernrode;  but 
it  is  not  possible  to  say  what  parts  of  this  edifice  belong  to  the 
>riginal  construction  of  the  Margrave  Gero,  dating  to  the  year  958. 
hold,  in  opposition  to  the  opinion  of  Quast  and  Schnaase,  that 
the  most  important  part,  the  central  aisle  (Fig.  148)  and  the  gal- 
leries, cannot  be  ascribed  to  that  period,  to  which  only  the  eastern 
ipse  and  the  round  towers  are  referable  with  certainty.  The  north- 
ern tower  has  a  system  of  pilasters  connected  by  gables,  after  the 
lanner  of  the  Carolingian  portal  of  Lorsch  (Fig.  120).  The  southern 
tower  has  arched  forms,  though  not  the  arched  corbel-table,  which 
iocs  not  appear  in  this  building.  In  greater  part  the  Church 


ROMANIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

of  Gernrode  belongs  to  a  group  of  Saxon  edifices  of  a  similar 
style,  dating  to  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries ;  among  these 
the  churches  of  Westergroeningen,  Goslar,  Frose,  Merseburg,  Huyse- 
burg,  Ilsenburg,  Heiningen,  and  Amelunxborn  display  a  regular 
alternation  of  piers  and  columns  in  the  nave.  The  distinctive- 
ly Romanic  features  do  not  seem  to  have  been  determined  be- 
fore the  age  of  the  last  Ottos,  towards  the  close  of  the  tenth  cen- 
tury. 

The  group  of  Romanic  buildings  in  the  vicinity  of  Hildesheim 
date  to  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  century.  In  like  manner  as 
the  civilization  of  Saxony  was  fostered  by  the  royal  family,  that  of 
the  district  of  Hildesheim  was  dependent  upon  the  bishops.  Bern- 
ward,  A.  D.  993  to  1022,  and  his  successor  Godehard,  A.  D.  1022  to 
1039,  elevated  their  diocese  to  a  pre-eminence  similar  to  that  of 
Fulda  in  the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries.  The  first  of  an  important 
series  of  architectural  monuments  was  the  cloister  complex  of  St. 
Michael,  which  was  built  between  1001  and  1033.  The  structure, 
as  it  remains  at  present,  is  certainly  founded  upon  the  original  ba- 
silical  plan,  and  at  least  the  main  walls  antedate  the  fire  of  A.  D. 
1 162.  We  see  here  a  duplication  of  choirs  similar  to  that  of  the 
plan  of  St.  Gall.  The  treatment  of  the  exterior  is  primitive  and 
bald ;  two  rectangular  towers  rise  above  the  intersection  of  the 
transepts  and  the  nave,  and  at  the  ends  of  the  transepts  there  are 
four  taller  towers,  of  polygonal  plan  below  and  round  above,  with 
undeveloped  and  insufficient  louver  windows  (Fig.  153).  The  ar- 
cades of  the  interior,  supporting  the  clerestory  wall,  display  an 
alternation  of  columns  and  piers,  so  disposed  that  two  round  shafts 
stand  between  the  square  piers  (Fig.  144).  The  Church  of  St.  Gode- 
hard at  Hildesheim,  consecrated  in  the  year  1033,  has  the  same 
system  of  two  columns  to  each  pier,  with  a  more  elaborate  devel- 
opment of  the  choir  (Fig.  137).  The  same  is  the  case  with  the  Ca- 
thedral of  Hildesheim,  founded  in  1061,  where,  however,  this  feature 
is  less  readily  recognizable  because  of  a  later  reconstruction  ;  as  also 
with  the  churches  of  Bursfelde,  Wunsdorf,  Gandersheim,  and  Klus, 
referable  to  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century,  and  influenced 
by  the  example  of  Hildesheim.  It  may  consequently  be  assumed 
that  this  dactylic  rhythm  of  the  arcade  supports  was  peculiar  to 


GERMANY. 


273 


the  diocese  of  Hildesheim,  in  the  same  way  as  the  trochaic  alter- 
nation of  columns  and  piers  was  to  the  Hartz. 

Otherwise,  throughout  Saxony,  the  constructions  were  generally 
of  piers  alone.  The  churches  of  Walbeck,  Marienthal,  Vessera,  and 
the  Cathedral  of  Bremen  (Fig.  154),  all  dating  to  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury, as  well  as  the  Convent  Church  of  Ammensleben  and  the  Church 
of  Our  Lady  at  Halberstadt,  built  at  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth 
century,  have  clerestory  walls  supported  upon  simple  arcades  of 
piers,  the  bases  of  which  are  sometimes  Attic,  while  the  impost 
cornices  are  of  exceedingly  primitive  forms.  The  somewhat  more 
elaborate  capitals  of  the  piers  at  Koenigslutter  are  exceptional. 
This  extreme  rudeness  and  bareness  of  design  was  entirely  over- 


Fig.  154. — Plan  of  the  Cathedral  of  Bremen. 

come  in  the  twelfth  century.  In  the  Church  of  Our  Lady  in  Mag- 
deburg, which  was  even  previous  to  this  age,  the  piers  were  cham- 
fered, and  the  same  peculiarity,  in  some  instances  with  the  intro- 
duction of  small  engaged  columns  at  the  corners,  appears  in  the 
churches  of  Fredelsloh  near  Eimbeck,  Petersberg  near  Erfurt,  Ma- 
rienberg  near  Helmstaedt,  and  Wechselburg  and  Thalbuergel  near 
Jena.  The  last  of  these  (Fig.  147)  was  by  far  the  most  highly  de- 
veloped and  successful.  In  addition  to  the  four  columns  engaged 
to  the  corners  and  not  projecting  beyond  the  line  of  the  common 
impost,  two  further  shafts  were  adjoined  to  the  narrow  sides  of 
each  pier,  these  being  continued  around  the  soffit  of  the  arch  as 
large  mouldings,  in  the  same  way  as  were  the  shafts  of  the  corners. 
This  system  satisfied  alike  the  aesthetic  and  the  practical  require- 

18 


274 

ments,  and  prepared  the  way  for  the   introduction    of  a   vaulted 

ceiling  above  the  nave. 

The  Romanic  basilicas  with  arcades  supported  upon  columns 
alone  were  rare  in  Saxony,  and  of  course  restricted  to  the  churches 
with  horizontal  ceilings.  Three  of  these  are  known— the  Collegiate 
Church  upon  the  Moritzberg  near  Hildesheim,  the  Convent  Church 
of  Paulinzelle  (Fig.  142),  and  that  of  Hamersleben,  founded  respect- 
ively in  1060,  1105,  and  1108.  The  two  latter  buildings  are  very 
similar ;  their  pleasing  proportions  and  beautiful  decorative  details 
seem  to  point  to  foreign  influence,  particularly  to  that  of  Franconia. 

The  high  degree  of  independence  recognizable  in  Saxony  was 
not  to  be  expected  in  the  Rhenish  countries.  The  influence  of 
the  traditions  and  examples  of  classic  and  Carolingian  architecture 


Fig-  I55- — Plan  °f  tne  Convent  Church  of  Limburg  on  the  Hardt. 

continued  to  be  felt,  although  the  barbarous  taste  of  the  times  had 
led  to  so  great  a  decadence  of  monumental  building  that  timber 
was  employed  even  for  the  most  important  edifices,  as,  for  instance, 
the  Church  of  St.  Stephen  at  Mayence,  built  about  the  year  990. 
The  enormous  Convent  Church  of  Limburg  on  the  Hardt  (Fig.  155)' 
erected  by  the  emperor,  Conrad  II.,  between  1024  and  1039,  and  the 
Church  of  St.  George,  now  that  of  St.  James,  at  Cologne,  consecrated 
in  1067,  both  exhibit  Romanic  details.  Nevertheless,  in  the  recon- 
struction of  St.  Justinus  in  Hoechst  on  the  Main,  A.  D.  1090,  rough 
Corinthian  capitals  were  introduced,  which  probably  were  vestiges 
of  the  older  edifice.  It  is  also  not  certain  whether  the  rude  imita- 
tions of  ancient  forms  which  appear  in  the  pilaster  capitals  of  the 
upper  story  of  the  west  towers  of  St.  Castor  in  Bonn  are  referable 


GERMANY.  275 

to  the  Carolingian  epoch  or  to  the  eleventh  century.  The  former 
origin  may  with  much  probability  be  assumed  for  the  Corinthian 
columns  of  the  Church  of  St.  Willibrord  at  Echternach,  which  was 
consecrated  for  the  second  time  in  1031.  This  building  is  the  only 
early  Rhenish  example  of  that  alternation  of  columns  and  piers 
which  was  so  common  in  Saxony ;  it  is,  moreover,  provided  with 
discharging  arches  above  every  two  arcades,  similar  to  those  of 
Huyseburg  and  Druebeck. 

The  Roman  influences  are  also  recognizable  in  those  construc- 
tions in  which  the  arcades  are  supported  upon  piers, — to  which 
category  belong  all  the  other  Rhenish  church  buildings  referable 
to  this  early  epoch.  As  might  be  expected,  the  classic  forms  are 
to  be  traced  only  in  the  more  important  edifices,  the  greater  num- 
ber of  the  horizontally  ceiled  Rhenish  basilicas  being  extremely 
rude,  and  entirely  devoid  of  ornamentation.  Among  these  may 
be  mentioned  the  churches  of  Lorsch,  Kaiserswerth,  Hirzenach, 
Johannisberg,  Rommersdorf,  Altenahr,  Altenkirchen,  Loevenich,  of 
St.  Matthew  near  Treves,  and  of  St.  Ursula  and  St.  Cecilia  in  Co- 
logne, all  of  which  were  built  before  1130.  Decidedly  the  most  im- 
portant Rhenish  works  of  this  earliest  period  were  the  cathedrals 
of  Mayence  and  Treves,  some  parts  of  which,  remaining  to  the 
present  day,  may  without  doubt  be  referred  to  the  age  of  the  hori- 
zontally ceiled  Romanic  basilicas.  The  two  cylindrical  towers  of 
the  eastern  fagade  of  the  Cathedral  of  Mayence,  which  were  built 
between  1000  and  1036,  display  in  their  five  lower  stories  pilasters 
imitating  classic  forms,  and  corresponding  cornices  without  corbel- 
tables,  while  the  southern  portal  has  rude  Corinthian  columns.  The 
decorated  parts  of  the  apse  are-  somewhat  later,  as  are  also  the 
upper  parts  of  the  towers,  that  above  the  intersection  of  the  nave 
having  been  entirely  built  during  the  Gothic  period.  The  western 
facade  of  the  Cathedral  of  Treves  (Fig.  156),  the  reconstruction  of 
which  was  completed  in  1047,  nas  classic  pilasters  with  distinct 
reminiscences  of  the  details  of  the  Porta  Nigra.  Although  these 
two  cathedrals,  even  at  that  period,  far  surpassed  the  Saxon  church- 
es in  extent  and  magnificence,  the  countries  bordering  the  Rhine 
fere  nevertheless  inferior  to  Saxony  in  the  artistic  importance  and 
independence  of  their  architectural  works.  The  pre-eminence  of  the 


ROMANIC  ARCHITECTURE. 


Rhenish  provinces  dates  from  the  first  introduction  of  the  vaulted 
ceilings,  which  will  be  considered  hereafter. 

Westphalia  has  preserved  some  memorials  of  this  period  which 
display  great  originality  and  ingenuity  of  design,  notwithstanding 
their  extremely  plain  and  prosaic  character.  The  arcades  of  these 
basilicas  were  supported  only  upon  piers,  the  columns  of  the  Church 


Fig.  156. — Western  Fa9ade  of  the  Cathedral  of  Treves,  as  it  appeared  in  the  Eleventh 

Century. 

of  Neuenheerse  being  quite  exceptional.  The  cathedrals  of  Pader- 
born  and  Minden,  dating  to  the  eleventh  century,  have  perfectly 
plain  piers,  and  the  churches  of  Freckenhorst  and  Cappenberg, 
built  during  the  twelfth  century,  are  equally  bald  and  inartistic. 
The  characteristic  ornaments  of  the  Romanic  style,  such  as  the 
corbel-tables  and  the  decorated  portals,  are  but  seldom  employed 
upon  the  exterior,  while  the  place  of  the  picturesque  groups  of 


GERMANY. 


277 


towers  is  taken  by  one  gigantic  pile  in  the  middle  of  the  facade, 
which,  occupying  the  entire  width  of  the  nave,  appears  even  more 
bare  and  inartistic  because  of  the  entire  lack  of  memberment  by 
pilaster-strips  and  string-courses.  This  defect,  which  was  in  accord- 
ance with  the  blunt  and  unimaginative  nature  of  the  population, 
is  particularly  felt  in  the  larger  buildings,  such  as  the  Cathedral  of 
Paderborn  (Fig.  157)  and  the  Church  of  St.  Patroclus  at  Soest. 
The  ecclesiastical  edifices  of  Westphalia,  like  those  of  the  Rhenish 
countries,  did  not  attain  to  a  higher  importance  until  the  general  in- 
troduction of  vaulted  ceilings,  which 
were  early  adopted  in  both  these 
provinces. 

The  other  parts  of  Germany,  dur- 
ing this  epoch,  remained  far  behind 
Saxony  and  the  Rhenish  countries 
in  artistic  respects.  Hesse  was  chief- 
ly influenced  by  Saxony,  as  is  proved 
by  the  enormous  columned  Basilica 
of  Hersfeld,  begun  in  1038  (Fig.  158), 
and  by  the  basilicas  of  Breitenau 
near  Cassel,  and  of  Ilbenstadt,  in 
both  of  which  the  clerestory  walls 
are  supported  upon  piers.  In  Fran- 
conia,  on  the  other  hand,  the  eccle- 
siastical buildings,  in  so  far  as  they 
are  to  be  judged  from  their  present  Fig  I5?  _  western  Front  of  the  Cathe- 
condition,  display  Rhenish  influences.  dral  of  Paderborn. 

This  was  the  case  in  Bamberg  with 

the  Church  of  St.  James,  completed  in  1073 ;  with  the  Cathedral, 
originally  built,  between  1081  and  mi,  as  a  horizontally  ceiled 
basilica,  with  columns  engaged  to  the  corners  of  the  piers ;  and  with 
the  Basilica  of  St.  Michael ;  also  in  Wurzburg  with  the  Cathedral, 
which  was  built  at  two  different  periods,  between  1042  and  1050, 
and  between  1133  and  1189.  Engaged  columns  were  attached  to 
the  narrow  sides  of  the  piers  of  this  last  building,  which  retained 
its  ceiling  of  wood  until  a  comparatively  late  date. 

The  circumstances  of  Southern  Germany  rendered  it  impossible 


27g  ROMANIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

for  the  architecture  of  this  country  to  keep  step  with  that  of  Saxony. 
The  advantages  derived  from  the  ancient  Roman  civilization  by  the 
provinces  bordering  the  Danube  had  been  entirely  lost  through 
the  migrations  of  Germanic  races  during  the  fourth  century,  and 
the  inroads  of  the  Hungarians  in  the  tenth.  In  the  second  half 
of  the  eleventh  century  the  churches  of  the  diocese  of  Passau,  un- 
der Bishop  Altmann,  were  entirely  of  wood,  and  with  the  exception 
of  Ratisbon  and  the  shores  of  the  Lake  of  Constance,  which  were 
influenced  by  St.  Gall,  there  were  few  important  works  of  the  early 
Romanic  period  in  this  part  of  Germany.  The  most  noteworthy 
among  these  are  in  Ratisbon  itself.  The  Upper  Minster  and  the 
Church  of  St.  Emmeramnus,  both  of  which  were  originally  exten- 


Fig.  158.— Plan  of  the  Convent  Church  of  Hersfeld. 

sive  but  perfectly  plain  basilicas,  with  piers  in  the  interior,  were 
built  during  the  first  half  of  the  eleventh  century.  The  period  of 
the  erection  of  the  Church  of  St.  Stephen,  the  so-called  Old  Cathe- 
dral, is  so  questionable,  and  its  style  so  exceptional,  that  it  is  not 
to  be  classed  with  any  of  these  edifices ;  and  the  Baptistery  of  the 
Cathedral  cloister,  a  small  concentric  structure  with  apses  upon 
three  sides,  can  hardly  be  assumed  to  belong  to  the  earliest  period 
of  the  Romanic  style.  The  same  is  the  case  with  the  Church  of 
St.  James,  begun  by  Scottish  missionaries  as  late  as  1150;  it  must 
nevertheless  be  included  in  this  list  as  one  of  the  best  preserved 
columned  Romanic  basilicas  with  a  timbered  ceiling.  The  most 
noteworthy  part  of  the  building  is  the  portal  of  the  southern  side, 
profusely  decorated  with  sculptures,  and  the  entrance  of  the  north- 


GERMANY. 


ern  cloister,  ornamented  with  Germanic  and  Celtic  chevrons.  The 
artistic  activity  of  the  south-eastern  districts  of  Germany  was  in  the 
main  dependent  upon  that  of  Ratisbon.  In  Freising,  only  the  crypt 
of  the  Cathedral,  remarkable  for  its  fantastically  decorated  piers, 
dates  to  this  period.  Ecclesiastical  edifices  with  columns  were  rare 
between  the  Lech  and  Salzach  rivers;  only  the  Parish  Church  of 
Reichenhall  has  columns  alternating  with  the  piers,  while  a  dupli- 
cation of  the  round  shafts  between  the  square  supports  is  exhibited 
by  the  Romanic  basilica  of  St.  Peter  in  Salzburg,  which,  although 
dating  to  the  twelfth  century,  was  originally  constructed  with  a 
horizontal  ceiling  of  wood.  In  this  town  is  the  cloister  of  the  con- 
vent Nonnberg,  referable  to  the  eleventh  century,  and  certainly  the 
oldest  known  structure  of  the  kind  in  Germany.  A  dactylic  alter- 


Fig.  159.— Plan  of  the  Cathedral  of  Gurk. 

nation  of  columns  and  piers,  like  that  in  the  Church  of  St.  Peter 
in  Salzburg,  appears,  farther  to  the  east,  in  the  Convent  Church 
of  Sekkau  in  Upper  Styria.  The  Basilica  of  Gurk  (Fig.  159),  and 
that  of  St.  Paul  in  the  Valley  of  the  Lavant,  both  originally  pro- 
vided with  timbered  ceilings,  have  piers  in  the  interior.  The  last 
three  churches  are  not  older  than  the  twelfth  century.  The  only 
memorial  of  the  earliest  Romanic  period  in  Bohemia  is  the  Church 
of  St.  George  in  Prague,  built  in  the  eleventh  century,  and  remark- 
able for  its  heavy  and  awkward  forms. 

The  Romanic  reconstruction  of  the  Cathedral  of  Augsburg, 
which  occupied  the  site  of  a  basilica  antedating  the  Carolingian 
epoch,  was  carried  out  between  991  and  1077,  and  exhibits  a  hori- 
zontal ceiling  and  piers.  The  influence  of  this  city  in  the  south- 
western provinces  of  Germany  was  less  important  than  that  of  St. 


2g0  ROMANIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

Gall.  In  Southern  Suabia,  and  especially  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  Lake  of  Constance,  there  are  many  remains  of  structures  refer- 
able to  this  period,  in  which  the  Carolingian  and  classic  artistic  tra- 
ditions were  still  retained.  The  capitals  of  the  Church  of  Oberzell, 
upon  the  island  of  Reichenau,  which  may  have  been  built  as  early 
as  the  tenth  century,  show  both  the  traditional  and  the  Romanic 
forms ;  the  same  is  the  case  with  the  bulging  shafts  and  the  octag- 
onal capitals  of  the  Cathedral  of  Constance,  begun  about  the  mid- 
dle of  the  eleventh  century.  On  the  other  hand,  the  contempora- 
neous Minster  of  All  Saints  at  Schaffhausen,  and  also  the  Church 
of  St.  Aurelius  at  Hirschau,  display  a  decided  preponderance  of 
the  Romanic  details.  Of  the  basilicas  with  clerestory  walls  sup- 
ported upon  piers,  one  at  least,  that  of  Mittelzell,  built  in  1048,  re- 
sembles the  Carolingian  plan  of  St.  Gall  in  a  duplication  of  the 
transepts  and  apses.  The  churches  of  Wurtemberg  and  Baden  be- 
longing to  this  category  show  a  peculiar  preference  for  a  straight 
termination  of  the  choir,  which  form  appears  in  Hirschau,  Klein- 
komberg,  Denkendorf,  and  Maulbronn.  In  the  Church  of  Steinbach 
the  altar  niche  is  semicircular  upon  the  inside,  but  is  enclosed  upon 
the  exterior  by  rectangular  walls.  In  Suabia  the  decorative  mem- 
bers are  frequently  ornamented  with  figures  sculptured  in  relief,  as 
at  Brenz,  Faurndau,  Denkendorf,  and  Ellwangen,  while  the  prefer- 
ence for  timbered  architecture  and  nogging,  which  is  still  charac- 
teristic of  this  region,  is  evident  even  in  the  churches. 

The  great  variety  and  the  whimsical  character  of  the  architect- 
ural forms  employed  by  the  Alemannic  races  is  even  more  evident 
in  Alsace  than  in  Baden  and  Wurtemberg.  Influenced  from  all 
sides  by  the  most  divergent  traditions,  this  country  did  not  devel- 
op any  pronounced  architectural  type,  its  monuments  exhibiting  a 
series  of  experiments  with  different  motives.  The  Church  of  St. 
George  at  Hagenau  is  a  columned  basilica;  that  of  Surbourg  dis- 
plays an  alternation  of  columns  and  piers ;  while  that  of  Alspach 
has  piers,  to  the  corners  of  which  columns  are  engaged.  The  facade 
of  the  Church  of  Rosheim,  which  does  not,  it  is  true,  belong-  en- 

o 

tirely  to  the  construction  of  1049,  exhibits  direct  classical  reminis- 
cences in  the  formation  of  the  gable  and  acroteria.  The  influences 
of  the  Rhenish  countries  predominate  in  Lorraine  as  well  as  in 


GERMANY.  28 1 

Alsace.  Few  memorials  of  the  Romanic  style  have  been  preserved 
in  the  former  country.  The  duplication  of  the  transept  and  choir 
in  the  Cathedral  of  Verdun  may  perhaps  be  referable  to  this  pe- 
riod, as  may  also  the  churches  of  Blenod  and  Champ-le-Duc,  with 
alternating  piers  and  columns  divided  into  groups  by  discharging 
arches,  as  in  the  Church  of  St.  Willibrord  at  Echternach.  The  Low 
Countries  at  this  time  belonged  to  Germany,  and  are  to  be  consid- 
ered with  it ;  but  in  Holland  all  buildings  were  of  wood,  and  Bel- 
gium was  of  subordinate  importance.  Basilicas  with  columns  alone 
are  not  met  with  at  all,  while  constructions  with  alternating  piers 
and  columns,  like  the  Church  of  Tournay  and  that  of  St.  Vincent 
in  Soignies,  with  its  double-storied  side  aisles,  are  rare.  Those  ba- 
silicas in  which  the  clerestory  wall  was  supported  only  upon  piers 
were  perfectly  plain  and  without  artistic  interest. 

The  arrangement  of  the  horizontally  ceiled  Romanic  basilicas 
which  has  been  described  was  almost  exclusively  employed  through- 
out the  eleventh  century,  and  continued  for  many  decades  there- 
after. At  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century  an  innovation  was 
made  which  entirely  altered  the  character  of  the  interior,  giving  it 
a  far  greater  independence  and  stylistic  perfection.  This  was  the 
adoption  of  vaulting  in  the  place  of  the  former  ceilings  of  wood. 

The  theory  and  practice  of  vaulting  had  been  continued  through- 
out Germany  without  interruption  since  the  period  of  the  Roman 
occupation.  There  were  many  classic  remains  still  standing  in  the 
country,  notably  in  the  Rhenish  provinces,  which  assisted  the  tech- 
nical traditions,  the  ruins  giving  an  insight  into  the  methods  of 
construction  from  all  sides.  In  the  Minster  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  the 
three  most  important  systems  of  vaulting  employed  by  the  Romans 
—cupola,  barrel-  and  cross-vaults—were  reproduced  with  remarka- 
ble ability,  and  the  apses  and  crypts  (Fig.  160)  of  the  basilicas  did 
not  allow  the  practice  to  become  forgotten.  There  was  lacking, 
nevertheless,  that  degree  of  boldness  and  experience  requisite  for 
the  adoption,  in  the  principal  parts  of  the  ecclesiastical  buildings, 
of  such  extended  vaulted  constructions  as  had  been  commonly  em- 
ployed during  the  imperial  epoch  of  Rome  for  thermae  and  even 
for  forensic  basilicas. 


282 


ROMANIC   ARCHITECTURE. 


The  beginnings  of  the  Romanic  style  have  been  traced  in  Sax- 
ony, but  the  higher  development  of  its  forms,  in  connection  with 
vaulted  constructions,  is  almost  entirely  due  to  the  Rhenish  coun- 
tries. The  new  system  seems  to  have  first  appeared  in  the  impor- 
tant Church  of  St.  Mary  of  the  Capitol  in  Cologne,  the  vaulted 
passages  around  the  three  apses  of  which  were  probably  built  at 
the  time  of  the  reconstruction  of  this  edifice  towards  the  middle  of 
the  eleventh  century.  As  the  passages  in  question  were  themselves 
nothing  else  than  continuations  of  the  side  aisles  of  the  body  of  the 
church,  it  was  natural  that  the  vaulting  should  soon  be  transferred 
to  these  more  extensive  and  important  parts  of  the  edifice.  In 
other  churches  of  Cologne  of  a  similar  arrangement,  such  as  the 


Fig.  160. — Crypt  of  St.  Gereon  in  Cologne. 

Church  of  the  Apostles  and  that  of  Great  St.  Martin,  the  vaulting 
of  the  side  aisles  appears  to  have  even  preceded  that  of  the  termi- 
nation of  the  choir,  the  ceiling  of  masonry  having  without  doubt 
been  adopted  from  a  desire  to  protect  the  lower  parts  against 
danger  from  the  frequent  conflagrations  of  neighboring  dwellings, 
as  well  as  to  provide  a  firmer  abutment  for  the  higher  clerestory 
walls.  In  the  Church  of  St.  Ursula  at  Cologne  there  was  added  to 
this  consideration  the  necessity  of  providing  a  solid  foundation  for 
the  pavement  of  the  upper  story  of  the  side  aisles. 

The  Church  of  St.  Mary  of  the  Capitol  had  been  provided  at 
the  time  in  question  with  the  grand  cupola  above  the  intersection 
of  the  transept  and  nave, — in  pursuance  of  the  constructive  princi- 


GERMANY.  283 

pie  adopted  in  the  three  great  conches,  or  in  imitation  of  the  Min- 
ster of  Aix-la-Chapelle  or  the  Church  of  St.  Sophia  at  Constantino- 
ple, the  design  of  which  may  have  become  known  in  Germany  at 
this  period.  It  is  also  possible  that  this  arrangement  had  been 
adopted  in  the  earlier  church  upon  this  site.  Otherwise  the  vault- 
ings of  the  eleventh  century  did  not  exceed  very  moderate  dimen- 
sions. The  clumsy  execution  did  not  permit  a  reduction  of  the 
thickness  of  the  masonry,  and  this  extreme  massiveness  rendered 
the  construction  doubly  difficult  by  requiring  abutments  so  heavy 
that  they  seemed  to  preclude  all  more  extensive  undertakings  of  the 
kind.  The  last  step,  however,  was  finally  made,  and  the  nave  was 
covered  with  a  vault  of  stone.  This  was  at  first  due  less  to  the  de- 
sire for  a  harmonious  structural  development,  much  as  this  may  have 
been  appreciated,  than  to  the  necessity  of  preserving  the  churches 
from  frequent  destructions  by  fire,  to  which  they  were  exposed  by 
their  position  in  the  midst  of  the  wooden  houses  of  the  towns. 

The  most  simple  form  of  the  stone  ceiling,  the  barrel-vault,  was 
not  at  first  employed  in  Germany.  The  development  of  the  cross- 
vaults  in  the  side  aisles,  determined  by  the  arcades  of  the  clere- 
story wall,  led  the  way  to  a  similar  division  of  the  vaulting  of  the 
nave.  The  distance  from  pier  to  pier  was  approximately  equal  to 
the  width  of  the  side  aisles,  thus  providing  the  desirable  arrange- 
ment of  square  compartments.  Moreover,  the  cross-vaults  of  the  side 
aisles  did  not  require  a  great  elevation  of  the  lean-to  roofs,  as  the 
transverse  arches  were  placed  directly  upon  the  impost  of  the  piers, 
whereas  a  barrel-vault  could  not,  without  a  complicated  system  of 
lunettes,  spring  from  any  point  below  the  soffit  of  the  main  arches, 
and  would  thus  have  increased  the  height  of  the  bare  wall  between 
the  arcades  and  the  clerestory  windows.  While  the  cross-vaults  of 
the  side  aisles  had  been  regulated  according  to  the  piers,  so  that  a 
compartment  corresponded  to  each  arch,  the  double  width  of  the 
nave,  on  the  other  hand,  was  divided  into  square  fields  by  the  em- 
ployment of  the  second,  fourth,  and  sixth  pier,  and  so  on,  for  the 
support  of  the  vault,  those  of  odd  number  not  being  directly 
brought  into  requisition  for  this  purpose.  The  piers  upon  which 
the  vaulting  rested  were  strengthened  by  the  addition  of  pilasters, 
or  engaged  columns,  upon  the  inner  side,  from  the  capitals  of  which 


284  ROMANIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

sprang  not  only  the  transverse  ribs  above  the  nave,  but  also  the 
longitudinal  arches  in  relief  upon  the  clerestory  wall.  The  cross- 
vault  was  built  upon  the  square  frame  thus  provided. 

This  system  of  vaulting  was  of  decisive  importance  for  all  suc- 
ceeding ages,  in  aesthetic  as  well  as  in  constructive  respects.  The 
rhythmical  grouping  of  alternate  members,  which  had  been  begun 
in  the  horizontally  ceiled  buildings  of  Saxony,  was  thus  brought,  by 
logical  steps,  to  its  full  perfection.  It  was  no  longer  restricted  to 
the  lower  parts  of  the  building,  but  included  two  windows,  as  well 
as  two  arcades,  between  the  pilaster  strips  and  arches  in  relief.  The 
walls,  which  had  previously  been  perfectly  plain,  and  entirely  de- 
pendent upon  the  effect  of  colored  decorations,  received  an  organic 
memberment,  most  ingeniously  devised  in  constructive  respects. 
The  piers  were  not  transformed  in  plan  merely  for  decorative  pur- 
poses, their  mouldings  henceforth  became  of  structural  significance, 
and,  as  supports  of  the  vault,  were  carried  above  the  horizontal 
cornice  to  a  level  with  the  window  arches, — maintaining  the  unity 
of  the  nave,  especially  in  regard  to  vertical  dimensions.  The  hori- 
zontal cornice,  however,  was  still  retained  to  indicate  upon  the 
inner  side  of  the  clerestory  walls  the  height  of  the  side  aisles.  In 
conformity  with  the  transcendental  tendencies  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
the  vertical  lines  were  predominant  and  strongly  marked,  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  well-balanced  horizontality  of  the  architecture 
of  Greek  antiquity  corresponded  to  the  more  mundane  and  normal 
ideals  of  classic  culture.  This  tendency  was  so  strongly  felt  that 
vertical  memberments  were  introduced  even  in  positions  for  which 
they  were  less  adapted.  The  secondary  piers,  which  did  not  direct- 
ly support  the  vault,  were  provided,  like  their  neighbors,  with  pilas- 
ters, or  engaged  columns,  so  rising  above  them  as  to  form  the  im- 
post for  two  semicircular  arches  in  relief  above  the  clerestory  win- 
dows. The  functions  of  these  uprights  were  decorative  rather  than 
constructive,  and  their  systematic  introduction  proves  that  the  op- 
portunity for  vertical  divisions  was  sought  even  beyond  the  limits 
of  structural  significance. 

This  enrichment  of  the  interior  was  not  without  its  effects  upon 
the  outside  of  the  building.  The  semicircular  projection  of  the 
apse  was  generally  provided  with  a  memberment  of  engaged  col- 


GERMANY.  285 

umns  and  arches  in  relief,  which,  appearing  as  a  framework  for  the 
windows  of  the  crypt  as  well  as  those  of  the  principal  choir,  were 
almost  always  arranged  in  two  stories.  To  this  was  added  the  gal- 
lery of  diminutive  columns  as  a  main  frieze  and  cornice,  this  being 
frequently  extended  to  the  adjoining  parts  of  the  building,  so  as 
even  to  ascend  the  gables  of  the  transepts  and  of  the  eastern  front. 
These  so-called  dwarf  galleries  were  common  only  in  the  Rhenish 
countries  and  in  Northern  Italy;  they  appear  to  have  originated  in 
Lombardy,  and  are  not  known  to  have  been  introduced  in  the 
North  before  the  erection  of  the  double  church  of  Schwarzrhein- 
dorf,  near  Bonn,  built  in  1151.  The  pilaster-strips  of  the  side  walls 
were  increased  in  importance,  as  abutments  of  the  transverse  arches 
of  the  vaults,  and  were  consequently  multiplied  and  strengthened. 
The  sides  and  soffits  of  the  windows  were  commonly  decorated 
with  engaged  shafts  and  mouldings,  while  the  portals  were  far  more 
elaborated  than  they  had  been  in  the  horizontally  ceiled  Romanic 
basilicas.  The  towers  attained  to  a  greater  individuality  and  a  more 
ingeniously  devised  decorative  treatment,  the  improvement  being 
particularly  evident  in  the  heavy  piles  rising  above  the  intersection 
of  the  transept  and  nave.  These  superstructures  were  henceforth 
generally  of  an  octagonal  plan,  much  lightened  in  effect  by  frequent 
perforations  and  by  a  charming  termination  of  dwarf  galleries,  this 
being  the  case  even  when  the  side  walls  were  carried  up  in  gables 
so  as  to  give  the  surfaces  of  the  roof  a  diamond  shape,  and  cause 
them  to  intersect  in  the  main  axes  of  the  plan. 

It  is  not  definitely  known  in  which  church  the  vaulted  con- 
struction was  first  introduced,  but  it  is  certain  that  the  important 
Rhenish  cathedrals  of  Mayence,  Speyer,  and  Worms,  and  the  Abbey 
Church  at  Laach  were  among  the  earliest  structures  of  the  kind,  and 
it  is  not  improbable  that  the  priority  among  these  is  to  be  ascribed 
to  Mayence.  It  was  originally  built  between  978  and  1009,  and, 
laving  been  destroyed  by  fire  on  the  day  of  its  consecration,  was 
>nce  more  completed  as  a  horizontally  ceiled  basilica  in  1036.  In 
1081  it  was  again  burned  down,  and,  after  this  second  catastrophe, 
seems  to  have  been  re-erected  with  the  adoption  of  a  vaulted  con- 
struction throughout.  Its  ceilings  of  masonry  did  not  entirely  pro- 
tect it  from  other  conflagrations  in  1137  and  1191,  but  the  piers 


2g6  ROMANIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

and  walls  remained  intact,  although  the  vaults  at  present  existing 
were  executed  after  the  last-named  date.  The  architectural  charac- 
ter of  the  edifice  is  primitive  and  rude,  but  certainly  substantial  and 
dignified  (Fig.  163).  The  Cathedral  of  Speyer,  which  is  but  little 
more  recent,  is  of  a  much  finer  design,  and  certainly  deserves  to  be 
considered  as  the  most  important  monument  of  the  Romanic  style, 
at  least  in  Germany,  from  its  grand  dimensions  as  well  as  from  its 
ingenious  and  effective  construction  and  details  (Figs.  161  and  162). 
At  the  death  of  the  founder  of  the  building,  the  Emperor  Con- 
rad II.,  A.D.  1039,  only  the  crypt  had  been  completed,  and  the  con- 
secration which  is  known  to  have  taken  place  in  1061  probably  had 
reference  only  to  the  choir,  as  the  structure  was  not  finished  until 


*>»  Ktf. 

Fig.  161. — Plan  of  the  Cathedral  of  Speyer. 

the  twelfth  century.  The  plan,  however,  by  which  the  piers  were 
intended  to  serve  as  supports  of  the  main  vault  is  certainly  refera- 
ble to  the  eleventh  century,  and  in  view  of  the  slight  difference  in 
age  between  this  building  and  the  Cathedral  of  Mayence(/^.  163),  it 
is  reasonable  to  ascribe  the  far  greater  perfection  of  the  former  to  the 
artistic  ability  of  its  architect,  rather  than  to  any  appreciable  ad- 
vance in  the  development  of  the  style.  The  impost  cornices  of  the 
piers,  carried  around  upon  all  sides,  the  pilasters,  continued  to  the 
spring  of  the  main  vault,  the  columns  of  semicircular  plan  engaged 
to  these  strips  and  providing  the  impost  for  the  transverse  arches, 
the  arcades  in  relief  above  the  clerestory  windows,  the  third  small 
window  at  the  top  of  each  compartment,  etc.,  though  exhibiting  the 
primitive  and  uncertain  design  of  an  innovation,  are  unquestionable 
evidences  of  originality  and  entire  emancipation  from  the  classic 


GERMANY. 


28; 


traditions  (Fig.  164).  The  same  proud  independence  is  recognizable 
upon  the  exterior.  The  fine  dwarf -gallery  was,  however,  rebuilt 
after  the  fire  of  1 159,  while  the  western  front  is  modern. 


Fig.  162. — View  of  the  Cathedral  of  Speyer. 

The  combination  of  the  system  of  Mayence  with  that  of  Speyer, 
/hich  appears  in   the  Cathedral   of  Worms  (Fig.  165)  was  not  en- 
tirely successful.     The  latter  structure  is  supposed  to  have  been 
:onsecrated  in  1118,  by  which  time  the  design  of  the  models  had 


288 


ROMANIC   ARCHITECTURE. 


been  determined  in  the  most  important  features.  It  is  beyond 
doubt,  however,  that  the  reconstruction  of  1183  introduced  many 
modifications  which  naturally  must  have  been  based  upon  the  ar- 


Fig.  163.— System  of  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Mayence. 


Fig.  164. — System  of  the  Cathedral 
of  Speyer. 


rangement  of  the  before -mentioned  prototypes.  In  contrast  to 
these  three  cathedrals  the  Convent  Church  of  Laach  (Fig.  134), 
built  between  1093  and  1156,  displays  the  first  attempt  to  employ 


GERMANY. 


289 


all  the  piers  to  support  the  vaulting  of  the  nave,  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  they  did  that  of  the  side  aisles.  This  resulted  in  the  piers 
being  placed  at  greater  distances,  and  treated  alike  with  pilasters 


Fig.  165. — System  of  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Worms. 


f     f 


Fig.  166.  —  System   of  the   Convent 
Church  of  Laach. 


ind  engaged  columns,  which  were  continued  to  the  impost  of  the 
yault  (Fig.  1 66). 

Compared  with  these  vaulted  edifices,  those  of  the  Lower  Rhine, 

19 


290 


ROMANIC   ARCHITECTURE. 


grouped  around  Cologne,  were  decidedly  inferior,  especially  in  re- 
gard to  the  structural  arrangement  of  the  compartment  systems. 
The  Church  of  St.  Mauritius,  finished  shortly  before  1 144,  has  an 
exceedingly  low  nave  and  simple  piers,  with  pilaster- strips  ad- 


i       X  /  i 

Fig.  167.— System  of  the  Church  of  St. 
Mauritius  in  Cologne. 


Fig.  1 68. —System  of  the  Convent 
Church  of  Knechtsteden. 


joined  to  the  supports  of  chief  structural  importance,  while  in 
the  side  aisles  a  rhythmical  alternation  is  attained  by  columns  en- 
gaged upon  the  intervening  piers  and  the  wall  opposite  to  them 
(Fig.  167).  In  those  cases  where  primitive  basilicas  with  piers  in 
the  nave  were  subsequently  vaulted,  the  treatment  was  even  more 


GERMANY.  29 1 

simple.  At  times  the  square  piers  were  transformed  as  much  as 
possible,  the  supports  of  the  vault  being  provided  upon  all  four 
sides  with  engaged  columns,  so  as  to  appear  like  a  bundle  of  shafts, 
while  plain  cylindrical  columns  were  employed  for  the  intervening 
members  which  had  been  relieved  from  the  weight  of  the  greater 

o  o 

part  of  the  superstructure ;  an  instance  of  this  is  the  Church  of  the 
Premonstrants  at  Knechtsteden  near  Dormagen  (Fig.  168).  The 
same  alternation  of  piers  and  columns,  with  a  simpler  treatment  of 
the  supports  of  the  vault,  which  were  only  provided  with  pilasters, 
is  exhibited  by  the  Church  of  the  Augustines  at  Klosterrath,  near 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  begun  in  the  same  year  as  the  preceding. 

The  most  remarkable  peculiarity  of  the  Romanic  churches  in 
Cologne  and  its  neighborhood  is  that  formation  of  the  choir  and 
transept  which  had  appeared  in  the  Church  of  St.  Mary  of  the 
Capitol  (Figs.  169  and  170),  perhaps  even  as  early  as  the  Carolin- 
gian  period.  The  mortuary  chapel  at  Schwarzrheindorf  near  Bonn, 
and  especially  Great  St.  Martin  and  the  Church  of  the  Apostles  in 
Cologne,  exhibit  further  developments  of  this  attempt  to  combine 
the  concentric  arrangement  with  the  basilical  plan  through  such 
alteration  of  the  transepts  as  to  give  them  the  character  of  grand 
apses.  The  introduction  of  this  system  was  probably  less  due  to 
the  influence  of  the  domed  structures  of  Byzantium  than  .to  a  de- 
sire to  meet  the  thrust  of  the  vault  above  the  intersection  of  the 
transept  and  the  body  of  the  church  by  the  abutment  of  three 
conches  upon  the  sides  not  supported  by  the  vault  of  the  nave: 
the  hemispherical  vaults  of  the  apses  acting  as  flying  buttresses  in 
the  same  way  as  did  the  inclined  barrel -vaults  of  the  gallery  of 
the  Minster  of  Aix-la-Chapelle.  Archbishop  Arnold,  the  founder 
of  the  double  church  at  Schwarzrheindorf,  had,  shortly  before  the 
erection  of  the  structure  in  1151,  visited  Constantinople,  and  may 
:onsequently  have  brought  back  \vith  him  the  traditions  of  Byzan- 
tine architecture.  The  Church  of  Great  St.  Martin  (Figs.  171  and 
172)  is  but  little  more  recent,  its  choir  and  transept  having  been 
:onsecrated  in  1172,  while  the  completion  of  the  nave  was  delayed 
mtil  the  thirteenth  century.  The  design  of  the  Church  of  the 
ipostles  antedates  the  conflagration  of  1199,  although  the  vaulting 
not  carried  out  until  1219.  This  building  is  the  most  success- 


292 


ROMANIC   ARCHITECTURE. 


ful  as  well  as  the  most  recent  of  the  group  to  which  it  belongs,  its 
greatest  charm  being  the  harmonious  relation   of  its  outward  ap- 


Fig.  169. — View  of  the  Interior  of  the  Church  of  St.  Mary  of  the  Capitol  in  Cologne. 


Fig.  170.— Plan  of  the  Church  of  St.  Mary  of  the  Capitol  in  Cologne. 

pearance  to  the  interior  construction.  In  it  the  dome  above  the 
intersection  of  the  transept  and  nave  is  not  only  emphasized  upon 
the  exterior  as  a  cupola, — a  decided  improvement  upon  the  heavy 


GERMANY. 


293 


superstructures   of  Schwarzrheindorf  and  Great  St.  Martin,  — but 
the  flanking  towers  attain  a  higher  development,  being  cylindrical 


Fig.  171. — View  of  the  Interior  of  Great  St.  Martin  in  Cologne. 


Fig.  172. — Plan  of  Great  St.  Martin  in  Cologne. 

below  and  octagonal  above,  while  excellently  placed  in  the  angles 
between  the  three  conches. 


ROMANIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

Vaulted  constructions  early  appear  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
Rhine  in  Westphalia,*  but  their  execution  is  clumsy  and  inar- 
tistic, especially  in  those  cases  where  vaults  were  introduced  into 
basilicas  which  had  been  originally  covered  with  horizontal  wooden 
ceilings.  Even  those  buildings,  designed  with  reference  to  the 
employment  of  vaults,  retain  a  character  of  massive  simplicity,  the 
piers  being  provided  with  pilasters  which  support  the  heavy  ribs 
of  the  vault.  In  some  of  the  churches  the  influence  of  the  before- 
mentioned  Rhenish  buildings  of  Knechtsteden  and  Klosterrath  is 
apparent,  especially  hi  respect  to  the  alternation  of  columns  as  in- 
tervening supports,  this  being  the  case  in  the  Church  of  St.  Kilian 
at  Luegde  near  Pyrmont,  in  that  of  St.  Peter  at  Soest,  etc. 

In  the  Saxon  provinces,  even  after  systems  of  vaulting  were  en- 
grafted upon  the  basilical  plan,  the  corresponding  development  of 
the  supports  was  long  delayed.  In  the  reconstructions  dating  to 
this  age  attention  was  devoted  to  the  elaboration  of  the  capitals 
and  cornices  rather  than  of  the  shafts.  An  instance  of  this  is  the 
Church  of  St.  Michael  at  Hildesheim,  rebuilt  between  1 162  and  1 186, 
after  having  been  destroyed  by  fire.  In  the  convent  churches  of 
Gandersheim  and  Wunsdorf,  on  the  other  hand,  which  were  restored 
at  about  this  time,  the  piers,  alternating  with  two  columns,  were 
strengthened  by  pilasters.  In  entirely  new  constructions,  such  as 
the  City  Church  of  Freiberg  in  the  Erzgebirge,  the  plan  of  the  piers 
was  of  course  calculated  for  the  support  of  vaults.  In  this  edifice, 
and  especially  in  its  famed  Golden  Portal,  the  decorative  elabora- 
tion is  more  important  than  the  constructive  advance.  The  piers 
of  cruciform  plan  in  the  Cathedral  of  Brunswick,  built  between  1 172 
and  1194,  were  evidently  designed  with  especial  reference  to  their 
functions  as  the  supports  of  vaults.  This  edifice  served  as  the 
model  for  a  number  of  churches  in  Brunswick  and  its  vicinity. 

The  Saxon  colonists  of  the  North  German  Lowlands f  appear  to 
have  been  more  influenced  by  the  architecture  of  Westphalia  than 
by  that  of  Saxony.  In  this  district  no  memorials  antedating  the 
twelfth  century  have  been  preserved.  The  Romanic  style,  which 

*  W.  Luebke,  Die  mittelalterliche  Kunst  in  Westphalen.     Leipzig,  1853. 

f  F.  Adler,  Mittelalterliche  Backsteinbauwerke  des  preussischen  Staates.     Berlin,  1859. 


GERMANY.  295 

had  been  developed  in  reference  to  a  masonry  of  stone,  was  here 
greatly  altered  in  character  by  the  general  employment  of  bricks,— 
the  great  plain  of  the  north  furnishing  no  other  building  material. 
The  few  edifices  which  were  in  part  built  of  stone  obtained  from 
erratic  bowlders,  such  as  the  Church  of  St.  Godehard  in  Branden- 
burg, and  the  Cathedral  of  Havelberg,  dating  to  the  last  half  of 
the  twelfth  century,  are  much  more  rude  and  formless  than  the 
contemporary  churches  of  Saxony  and  the  Rhenish  countries,  this 
being  in  some  measure  attributable  to  the  intractable  nature  of 
the  material.  The  structures  of  brick  did  not  attain  to  an  artistic 
development  before  the  erection  of  the  Basilica  of  Jerichow,  A.D. 
1144  to  1160.  The  capitals  of  the  buildings  belonging  to  this  class 
are  formed  of  plane  surfaces  like  those  of  Byzantium,  with  triangles 
which,  instead  of  being  rounded  like  the  lower  part  of  the  normal 
Romanic  capital,  have  their  points  down- 
ward. But,  while  the  column  was  simpli- 
fied, the  corbel-table  became  more  elabo- 
rate, its  intersecting  arches  being  of  ex- 
ceedingly rich  and  varied  effect  (Fig.  173). 
The  vaulted  system  was  not  fully  estab-  Fig'  ^--Corbel- table  from 

the  Convent  Church  at  Jeri- 

hshed    until   the    end   of  the    twelfth    cen- 

cnow. 

tury.      The  Cathedral  of  Lubeck,  founded 

in  1171,  is  the  oldest  example  of  this  manner  of  construction,  but 
only  a  small  part  of  the  edifice  now  remains  in  its  original  form.  To 
the  same  age  are  referable  the  important  churches  of  Arendsee  and 
Diesdorf  in  the  Altmark,  the  piers  of  which  are  also  provided  with 
pilasters  and  engaged  columns  (Fig".  174). 

In  Hesse,  Franconia,  Bavaria,  and  the  Austrian  territories  the 
introduction  of  vaulting  exercised  no  important  influence  upon  the 
formation  of  the  plan  and  the  exterior  until  the  period  of  transition 
to  the  Gothic  style.  A  somewhat  greater  architectural  activity  was 
developed  in  Suabia  and  Alemannia,  in  which  countries,  much  af- 
fected by  the  artistic  traditions  of  the  Lower  Rhine,  the  peculiar 
mobility  and  imaginativeness  of  the  inhabitants  favored  the  elabo- 
ration of  ornamental  details,  and  especially  the  employment  of  ani- 
mal forms  in  this  connection.  On  the  left  bank  of  the  Upper  Rhine 
vaulting  was  early  practised  and  systematized.  In  Alsace  various 


296  ROMANIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

forms  of  the  vault  were  combined  with  the  methods  of  building 
which  obtained  in  the  Middle  Rhenish  districts.  In  Murbach,  for 
instance,  the  Convent  Church  of  Laach  is  imitated,  and  if  the  Church 
of  St.  Fides  in  Schlettstadt  was  really  finished  in  its  present  form  in 
the  year  1094,  as  some  authorities  have  been  induced  to  believe  by 
documentary  evidence,  it  certainly  displays  an  exceptionally  early 
employment  of  the  pointed  arch.  The  case  is,  however,  probably 
the  same  with  this  building  as  with  the  Church  of  Rosheim,  the 
pointed  arcades  of  which  are  not  contemporary  with  the  original 
structure  consecrated  in  1049.  The  fa9ade  of  the  latter  building, 


Fig.  174. — Longitudinal  Section  showing  the  Southern  Side  of  the  Convent  Church 

at  Diesdorf. 

with  its  classic  gable  and  acroteria,  is  without  doubt  referable  to  the 
Italian  influences  felt  during  the  later  period  of  the  Hohenstaufens. 
The  Rhenish  traditions  were  maintained  during  the  twelfth 
century  in  the  Tranche  Comt£  as  well  as  in  Lorraine  and  the 
Netherlands,  the  former  district  being  remarkable  for  the  contrast 
which  its  buildings,  notably  the  Cathedral  of  Besan^on,  present  to 
the  style  of  Southern  France.  In  the  Netherlands,  on  the  other 
hand,  no  attempt  was  made  until  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth 
century  to  take  advantage  of  the  Rhenish  system  of  vaulting  the 
nave  and  side  aisles,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  domes  similar  to 
those  of  the  Carolingian  epoch  were  built  as  late  as  the  twelfth 


GERMANY.  2Q/ 

century,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  Church  of  St.  Macarius  near  St. 
Bavo  in  Ghent. 

The  successful  exertions  which  were  made  in  ecclesiastical  archi- 
tecture from  the  earliest  ages  of  the  Romanic  epoch  were  not  at 
first  extended  to  domestic  buildings.  The  only  dwellings  of  inter- 
est to  the  history  of  art,  even  in  the  later  development  of  this  style, 
were  the  convents  and  the  castles  of  the  nobles. 

There  are  many  accounts  of  the  construction  or  restoration  of 
cloisters  after  the  establishment  of  the  German  empire,  but  it  is 
probable  that  even  those  founded  by  King  Henry  I.,  who  died 
in  936,  and  by  his  pious  wife,  Mathilde,  who  outlived  him  for 
thirty-two  years,  —  such  as  the  College  of  St.  Servatius  and  that 
of  St.  Wipertus  in  Quedlinburg,  the  Monastery  of  Poelde  and  the 
nunneries  of  Nordhausen  and  Enger,  —  were  not  more  important 
in  artistic  respects  than  were  the  Carolingian  convents  of  Her- 
ford,  Boedecken,  Hirsau,  the  upper  Minster  of  Ratisbon,  Hersfeld, 
Lammspringe,  Bersen,  Freckenhorst,  Herzebroch,  Neuenheerse,  and 
Wunsdorf ;  and  it  is  to  be  assumed  that  they  were  far  less  important 
than  those  of  Gandersheim  and  Essen,  and  especially  those  of  Fulda, 
Corvey,  and  St.  Gall.  The  cloisters,  founded  by  less  powerful  and 
wealthy  patrons,  must  have  been  decidedly  inferior.  Among  these 
may  be  mentioned  the  Nunnery  of  Ringelheim,  founded  in  932  by 
Count  Immod,  a  brother  of  Queen  Mathilde,  that  of  Fischbeck,  on 
the  Weser,  established  in  934  by  Frau  Hilleberg,  and  the  Monastery 
of  Groeningen,  built  between  936  and  940  by  Count  Siegfried  of 
Hardgau. 

The  expenditure  for  convent  buildings  was  not  great  during  the 
reign  of  the  Ottos,  although  much  attention  was  paid,  about  the 
year  1000,  to  the  erection  of  imposing  convent  churches.  We  have 
no  reason  to  attribute  an  independent  architectural  importance  to 
the  cloister  of  St.  Maurice  of  Magdeburg,  or  the  Great  Minster  of 
St.  Felix  and  St.  Regula  in  Zurich,  both  of  which  were  built  by 
Otto  II.  The  most  noteworthy  of  the  establishments  founded  by 
his  sons  were  the  Monastery  of  St.  Pantaleon  in  Cologne,  built  by 
Bruno,  who  died  in  965,  and  that  of  Tegernsee,  founded  in  979  by 
Otto  II.,  and  governed  between  982  and  1001  by  the  energetic  Ab- 


298  ROMANIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

bot  Gozbert.  The  other  convents  dating  to  this  period  were  less 
important.  Among  them  may  be  mentioned  Schildesche,  A.  D.  939, 
St.  Peter  at  Mayence,  A.  D.  944,  Walbeck,  between  941  and  996, 
Hillersleben,  A.  D.  958,  Gernrode  and  Hilwartshausen,  A.  D.  960, 
Hadmersleben,  A.  D.  961,  Eltenberg,  A.  D.  963,  Kalkberg,  before 
965,  Gerbstaedt  and  Oehningen,  A.D.  965,  Hesslingen,  A.  D.  969, 
Gladbach,  A.D.  974,  Memleben  and  Nienburg,  A.  0.975,  Alsleben, 
A.D.  979,  Hecklingen,  A.  D.  980,  Petershausen  in  Constance,  A.  D. 
983,  and  Seltz,  A.  D.  996. 

None  of  the  establishments  founded  in  the  eleventh  century 
were  equal  in  extent  to  the  Convent  of  Fulda  or  to  that  of  St.  Gall, 
the  centralization  of  the  monastic  orders  being  no  longer  the  same 
as  that  which  had  led  to  the  before -mentioned  structures,  or  to 
Monte  Casino  in  Italy  and  Cluny  in  France.  Although  not  one 
cloister  has  been  preserved  to  give  us  a  distinct  idea  of  the  arrange- 
ment and  appearance  of  the  convents  of  this  period,  yet  certain 
fragmentary  remains  seem  to  indicate  that  the  type  which  had 
been  determined  in  the  Carolingian  epoch  by  the  plan  of  St.  Gall 
was  but  little  altered.  A  square  cloistered  court  usually  adjoined 
the  church  upon  the  south,  serving  in  the  later  period  as  a  burial- 
place  for  the  brethren.  Of  the  three  sides  of  the  building  surround- 
ing the  court,  that  upon  the  east  contained  in  the  lower  story  the 
chapter-house,  and  above,  the  dormitory ;  that  upon  the  south,  op- 
posite to  the  church,  the  refectory  and  the  offices  appertaining 
thereto ;  while  that  upon  the  west  was  employed  below  as  a  store- 
house, and  above  as  a  hospitium.  The  spaces  which,  in  St.  Gall, 
had  been  separated  and  dispersed  were  thus  crowded  together.  To 
compensate  for  this,  the  court  attained  a  much  higher  architectural 
development,  being  surrounded  by  cloister  arcades  which,  as  part 
of  the  lower  story,  were  opened  towards  the  court,  like  the  peristyle 
of  the  antique  dwelling,  thus  providing  a  protected  passage  and  an 
agreeable  place  of  resort  for  the  inhabitants.  The  advantages  offered 
by  an  arcade  caused  the  windows  opening  to  the  court,  which  had 
appeared  upon  the  plan  of  St.  Gall,  to  be  in  later  times  gradually  ex- 
tended to  real  cloisters.  In  the  older  parts  of  the  court  of  the  Nonn- 
berg  at  Salzburg  (Fig.  175),  which  probably  date  from  the  end  of  the 
eleventh  century,  the  openings  still  retain  a  window-like  character, 


GERMANY. 


299 


although  the  engaged  columns  of  the  walls  between  the  apertures 
indicate  the  progressing  development  of  the  arcades.  This  peculiar- 
ity appears  in  the  southern  arcade  of  the  Cloister  of  St.  Peter  in 
Salzburg,  which,  although  somewhat  more  recent,  displays  the  same 
resemblance  of  the  bases  of  the  columns  to  the  capitals.  The  walls 
were  soon  cut  away,  with  the  exception  of  a  low  parapet,  above 
which  they  were  replaced  by  ranges  of  columns  connected  by  arches. 
At  first  piers  alternated  with  round  shafts,  as,  for  instance,  in  the 
cloister  of  the  Collegiate  Church  at  Berchtesgaden,  built  between 
1109  and  1 1 22,  the  piers  of  which  are  roughly  decorated  in  relief, 


Fig-  !75- — Detail  of  the  Cloister  of  the  Nonnberg  at  Salzburg. 

while  the  columns  are  coupled,  in  order  to  make  up  the  thickness 
of  the 'wall.  Most  of  the  cloisters  of  the  period  may  be  assumed  to 
have  resembled  this  structure,  the  round  arched  or  Gothic  cross- 
vaults  at  present  seen  having  been  added  at  a  later  time.  The 
cloister  of  St.  Zeno,  near  Reichenhall,  is  the  best  preserved  speci- 
men of  an  arcade  supported  only  by  columns ;  the  capitals  of  its 
coupled  shafts  are  remarkable  for  their  sculptured  decorations  of 
figures,  chosen  mainly  from  animal  fables.  The  older  parts  of  the 
cloister  of  the  Frauen  Minster  in  Zurich  also  date  from  the  middle 
of  the  twelfth  century,  while  the  remarkably  fine  arcades  of  the 
Great  Minster  (Fig.  176)  of  that  place  were  built  about  the  year 


3oo 


ROMANIC   ARCHITECTURE. 


1200.  The  arcades  are  divided,  by  discharging  arches  above  the 
piers,  into  groups,  each  of  which  contains  two  columns,  the  mem- 
berm'ent  of  the  supports  and  of  the  ribs  of  the  vaults  being  varied 
and  of  good  effect.  When  the  weight  of  the  superstructure  rested 
upon  the  piers,  as  in  the  instance  last  mentioned,  it  was  possible  to 
employ  small  single  columns,  which  were  brought  into  connection 
with  the  wall  above  them  by  means  of  projecting  imposts.  Other 
cloisters  of  the  Romanic  period,  like  that  of  St.  James  in  Ratisbon, 
or  that  of  the  Church  of  St.  Saviour  at  Milstadt,  display  the  forms 
of  the  transitional  style  of  the  thirteenth  century,— or,  as  in  the  case 


Fig.  176. — Cloister  of  the  Great  Minster  of  Zurich. 

of  Maulbronn,  have  received  such  extensive  additions  that  they  are 
rather  to  be  classed  with  the  structures  of  the  Gothic  period. 

A  peculiar  feature  of  the  cloisters  is  the  fountain  of  the  court, 
usually  projecting  from  the  side  of  the  refectory.  The  appearance 
of  this  structure  depended  upon  the  nature  of  the  water  supply;  as 
it  was  covered,  it  naturally  received  the  form  of  a  pavilion,  treated 
in  the  same  manner  as  the  surrounding  cloister  arcades,  and  pro- 
vided with  stone  seats.  In  some  collegiate  churches,  and  especially 
in  the  adjuncts  of  cathedrals,  the  place  of  the  fountain  was  taken 
by  a  small  chapel,  a  noteworthy  instance  of  which  is  the  Romanic 


GERMANY.  ^Ol 

dome,  with  apses  upon  three  sides,  standing  in  connection  with  the 
more  recent  cloister  of  the  Cathedral  of  Ratisbon. 

The  halls  of  the  convents  long  remained  bare  and  without  archi- 
tectural interest,  their  horizontal  ceilings  being  at  first  supported 
by  beams  of  wood.  It  was  not  until  the  end  of  the  eleventh  and 
the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century  that  the  introduction  of  vault- 
ing led  to  a  monumental  treatment  of  the  piers  and  columns.  In 
the  eastern  wing  of  the  Cloister  of  Bebenhausen  in  Wurtemberg 
there  are  three  halls,  two  of  which  contain  four  columns ;  the  six 
shafts,  introduced  into  the  third,  support  a  pointed  vault  of  the 
Gothic  period.  The  fine  halls  of  the  Abbey  of  Maulbronn,*  the 
best  preserved  of  the  mediaeval  cloister  enclosures,  are  only  in  part 
referable  to  the  Romanic  epoch :  the  chief  hall,  with  the  central 
range  of  seven  coupled  columns  and  cross  vaults  without  ribs,  hav- 
ing been  built  in  1201,  while  a  vaulting  in  the  magnificent  refectory, 
supported  by  three  principal  columns  and  four  smaller  intervening 
shafts,  betrays,  by  the  introduction  of  pointed  forms,  the  influence 
of  the  transitional  style. 

In  the  eleventh  century  the  castles  of  the  feudal  nobles  gradu- 
ally became  of  independent  architectural  importance.  These  struct- 
ures commonly  stood  in  the  midst  of  a  small  area,  fortified  by  high 
walls,  the  site  of  which  was  so  chosen  as  to  profit  as  much  as  possi- 
ble by  the  natural  protection  afforded  by  steep  cliffs  or  by  water. 
Their  portals,  being  designed  with  especial  reference  to  great  de- 
fensive strength,  exhibited  from  the  first  a  certain  monumental 
character.  Otherwise  there  was,  at  least  during  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury, only  one  building  within  the  enclosure  which  deserves  to  be 
considered  in  this  connection,  namely,  the  barbacan  (Fig.  177),  a 
tower  serving  at  once  as  a  lookout  and  as  a  last  refuge  for  the  de- 
fenders. Its  enormously  thick  walls,  more  frequently  of  round  than 
of  square  plan,  left  but  small  chambers  in  the  interior.  These  were 
lighted  by  narrow  apertures,  and  could  only  be  entered  through  a 
door  (a)  situated  at  some  height  above  the  ground  and  reached  by 
ladders.  The  lowest  story  (b}  contained  the  high  and  narrow  dun- 
geon, access  to  which  was  provided  by  an  orifice  (c]  in  the  apex  of 

*  E.  Paulus,  Die  Cistercienserabtei  Maulbronn.     2d  edition.    Stuttgart,  1882. 


302  ROMANIC  ARCHITECTURE. 

its  vault.  The  three  or  four  upper  chambers,  increasing  in  size  from 
story  to  story  as  the  walls  diminished  in  thickness,  were  also  only 
to  be  reached  by  ladders.  The  summit  was  terminated  by  a  battle- 
mented  platform  (e).  The  development  of  the  barbacan  to  a  habit- 
able castle,  like  the  donjons  of  France  and  the  keep-towers  of  Eng- 
land, was  rare  in  Germany,— that  of  Rauschenberg,  near  Marburg, 
being  exceptional. 

During  the  eleventh  century  the  parts  of  the  castle  used  for  hab- 
itation were  entirely  of  wood,  and  even  at  the  beginning  of  the 
twelfth,  masonry  was  but  rarely  employed  for  the  halls  and  dwell- 
ing-rooms. This  is  the  case  with  the 
Niederburg,  near  Ruedesheim,  the  bar- 
rel and  cross  vaults  of  the  interior 
being  probably  referable  to  the  first 
construction,  while  the  rude  stone- 
work of  the  exterior,  altogether  with- 
out memberment  or  decoration,  was 
executed  at  the  beginning  of  the 
twelfth  century  (Fig.  178).  We  have 
no  reason  to  attribute  any  especial 
architectural  interest  to  those  castles 
of  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries 
concerning  which  we  have  document- 
ary information,  or  of  which  remains 
have  been  preserved ;  among  them 
may  be  mentioned  Hammerstein  near 
Fornich  on  the  Rhine,  Boeckelheim 

near  Kreuznach,  Kiburg  near  Zurich,  Habsburg  in  the  Aargau,  and 
Persenberg  near  Grein,  on  the  Danube.  The  masonry  of  the  last  of 
these  castles  was  so  inadequate  in  constructive  respects  that,  in  the 
year  1045,  it  fell  m  consequence  of  the  floor  of  the  hall  giving  way 
under  the  weight  of  the  assembled  guests.  In  the  lowlands  of 
Flanders  the  fortifications  commonly  consisted  of  palisades  and 
ramparts  of  earth,  but  in  mountainous  districts  the  strongholds 
were  not  unfrequently  excavated  from  the  native  rock  itself,  as  is 
the  case  with  Fleckenstein,  near  Weissenburg  in  the  Vosges. 

The  dwellings  and  palaces  of  the  citadels  did  not  attain  a  monu- 


Kig.  177. — Barbacan  of  Sonnenberg, 
near  "Wiesbaden. 


GERMANY. 


303 


mental  and  artistic  character  until  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury.    The  general  arrangement  of  these  was  the  same  as  before, 
the  ground-floor  containing  magazines,  while  the  upper  stories  were' 
occupied  by  halls  with  or  without  smaller  chambers  at  the  ends. 
Greater  care  was,  however,  taken  with  the  construction  of  the  in- 
terior, while  the  outer  walls  were  ornamented  with  the  forms  which 
had  been  developed  in   the  ecclesiastical  buildings,  — with  rhyth- 
mical groups  of  windows  or  of  columned  arcades,  corbel-tables,  pilas- 
ter-strips, arches  in  relief,  exposed  stone  staircases  supported  upon 
vaults,  etc.     The  Palace  of  Dankwarderode  (Fig.  179)  in  Brunswick, 
concerning  the  arrangement  of  which  in  the  time  of   Henry  the 
Lion,  A.D.  1150  to    1170, 
recent  investigations*  have 
thrown  much  light,  was  of 
extreme    simplicity.       Its 
position  was  strengthened 
by  the  vicinity  of  the  river 
Ocker.     The  ground-floor, 
lighted  by  small  windows, 
was  divided  longitudinally 
by  a  range   of  piers   con- 
nected with  arcades,  while 
the  entire  upper  story,  with 
the  exception  of  a  corridor 
and  the  so-called  caminata, 
was  occupied  by  one  large  hall.     The  living-rooms  were  separated 
from  the  palace  and  grouped  around  the  free-standing,  two-storied 
chapel.     A  similar  arrangement  is  evident  in  the  remains  of  the 
castles  belonging  to  the  Rhenish  countries  and  the  adjoining  dis- 
tricts, such  as  St.  Ulrich,  Giersberg,  Rappoltstein,  Hohenegisheim, 
Ortenburg,  Plixburg,  and  Landsberg  in  Alsace ;  Trifels  and  Kaes- 
tenburg  in  the  Rhenish  Palatinate,  Minzeberg  in  the  Wetterau  near 
Frankfort-on-the-Main,  Seligenstadt  on  the  Main,  Salzburg  in  the 
Saalgau  north  of  Wurzburg,  Reichenstein  in  the  Taunus,  Buedingen 
and  Roppershausen  in  Hesse,  Steinfurt  in  Westphalia,  Cobern  on 


Fig.  178. — Northern  Side  of  the  Niederburg  at 
Ruedesheim. 


*  L.  Winter,  Die  Burg  Dankwarderode  zu  Braunschweig.     Braunschweig,  1883. 


304 


ROMANIC   ARCHITECTURE. 


the  Moselle,  Vianden  in  Luxemburg.  In  Eastern  Germany,  on  the 
other  hand,  there  are  no  distinctively  Romanic  remains  of  castles, 
and  the  same  is  the  case  with  the  south,  where  only  Schloss  Tirol, 
near  Meran,  is  to  be  mentioned. 

The  imperial  palaces  of  the  Hohenstaufens  were  of  very  consid- 
erable dimensions,  chief  among  them  being  the  castle  of  Eger  and 
that  of  Goslar.  The  first  of  these,  which  came  into  the  possession 
of  Frederick  Barbarossa  as  the  dowry  of  his  first  wife  Adelheid,  and 
was  provided  by  the  Emperor  himself  with  a  fine  double  chapel,  still 
displays  the  simple  forms  of  the  first  half  of  the  twelfth  century. 
The  halls  occupy  the  entire  width  of  the  building,  being  without 
central  supports  and  without  a  corridor.  They  are  indicated  upon 


•s^steS^  ^  J  ^^ 

-^^S^^tpSs^sfc, 


Fig.  179. — Restored  Section  and  View  of  the  Eastern  Fa9ade  of  the  Palace  of  Dankwarde- 

rode  in  Brunswick. 

the  exterior  by  groups  of  arched  windows,  while  smaller  aper- 
tures give  light  to  the  adjoining  chamber.  The  Imperial  Palace  at 
Goslar,  originally  founded  by  Henry  III.,  and  consequently  the  old- 
est of  all  those  which  have  remained  to  the  present  day,  is  superior 
to  the  Castle  of  Eger  both  in  dimensions  and  in  artistic  importance. 
The  enormous  hall  which  occupies  the  entire  upper  story  is  55  m. 
long  and  16  m.  wide;  it  is  opened  to  the  court  in  arcades,  the  piers 
of  which,  connected  by  arches,  combine  three  smaller  arcades  sup- 
ported upon  columns,  to  a  single  system.  This  magnificent  hall, 
which  has  never  been  without  the  protection  of  a  roof,  has  unfort- 
unately suffered  so  much  from  restorations  that  its  original  appear- 
ance is  no  longer  evident. 

A  greater  interest  is  hence  attached  to  the  Imperial  Palace  of 


GERMANY. 


305 


Wimpfen  am  Berge,  and  especially  to  that  of  Gelnhausen,  although 
both  of  these  are  of  considerably  smaller  dimensions.  Little  more 
has  remained  of  the  former  than  the  five  arched  windows,  some  of 
the  columns  of  which  consist  of  four  shafts  twisted  to  a  knot  in  the 
middle,  while  the  capitals  display  a  great  variety  of  forms.  Geln- 
hausen (Fig.  180),  finished  in  1170,  exhibits,  on  the  other  hand,  an 
extremely  tasteful  memberment  of  the  two-storied  arcades  by  pilas- 
ter-strips, which  are  connected  at  the  top  by  cornice  arches.  The 
three  stories  are  provided,  on  the  side  towards  the  court,  with  a 
corridor  similar  to  a  cloister,  and  between  the  hall  and  the  barbacan 
there  is  a  two-aisled  portico,  the  vault  of  which  is  supported  in  the 
middle  by  two  columns.  A  chapel  surmounts  this  latter  structure. 
The  finest  of  all  the  Romanic  palaces  is,  however,  the  Wartburg. 


Fig.  180. — Restored  Section  and  View  of  the  Imperial  Palace  of  Gelnhausen. 

This  building  is  rendered  important  by  its  exceptional  state  of 
preservation  and  the  skilful  and  conservative  manner  in  which  it  has 
been  restored,  as  well  as  attractive  by  the  picturesqueness  of  its  site 
and  the  associations  connected  with  it.  It  was  founded  in  the  elev- 
enth century  by  the  Landgrave  Ludwig  der  Springer  of  Thuringia, 
and,  with  the  exception  of  the  fortification  walls  and  the  two  towers 
built  in  1067,  was  constructed  entirely  of  wood.  Tradition  assigns 
the  rebuilding  of  the  whole  in  masonry  to  the  Landgrave  Ludwig 
III.,  A.  D.  1130  to  1150,  and  the  addition  of  the  upper  story  to  the 
Landgrave  Hermann  I.,  about  A.  D.  1 190.  It  is  certain  that  a  con- 
siderable part  of  the  edifice  dates  to  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth 
century  (Fig.  181). 

As  usual,  the  facade  towards  the  court  is  most  richly  treated, 

20 


3o6 


ROMANIC   ARCHITECTURE. 


the  three  stories  of  round  arched  windows  diminishing  in  size  as  they 
ascend.  The  ground-floor,  39.5  m.  long  and  15.5  m.  broad,  contains 
at  either  end  two  square  chambers,  each  of  which  is  covered  by  four 
cross-vaults,  the  transverse  arches  being  supported  in  the  middle  of 
the  space  by  a  column.  That  upon  the  north  served  as  a  kitchen 
for  the  central  dining-hall,  while  that  upon  the  south  was  occupied 
by  the  women.  The  principal  story  was  of  corresponding  arrange- 
ment, the  chamber  of  the  landgrave  being  on  the  northern  side  of 
the  festival  hall,  while  upon  the  south  was  the  room  of  the  singers 
and  the  chapel.  The  upper  story,  occupied  in  its  entire  length  by 
a  hall,  was  rendered  especially  imposing  by  the  corridor  on  the  side 
towards  the  court  being  provided,  both  within  and  without,  with 


Fig.  181. — Western  Fa9ade  of  the  Palace  of  the  Wartburg. 

round  arched  windows.  Hooded  chimneys,  with  apertures  through 
the  walls  for  the  escape  of  the  smoke,  niched  windows,  small  con- 
necting staircases,  and  other  conveniences,  give  an  exceptionally 
clear  and  favorable  idea  of  the  palace  constructions  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  although  many  of  these  features  are  of  later  date  than  the 
period  now  in  consideration. 

An  important  feature  in  the  arrangement  of  these  castles  was 
the  two-storied  chapel,  which  was  commonly  situated,  together  with 
the  smaller  chambers,  in  one  of  the  ends  of  the  structure.  Note- 
worthy examples  have  remained  in  good  preservation  in  Eger, 
Freiburg  on  the  Unstrut,  Nuremberg,  and  Landsberg  near  Halle 
ig.  182).  The  sacred  ceremonies  were  performed  before  the  mem- 


GERMANY. 


307 


bers  of  the  family  in  the  upper  story,  while  the  ground -floor,  of 
simpler  design  and  of  heavier  and  lower  proportions,  was  intended 
for  the  menials,  who  could  hear  the  voice  of  the  priest  through  an 
aperture  in  the  vaulting.  The  chapels  were  at  times  isolated,  as  in 
Dankwarderode,  or  connected  with  the  portal,  as  in  Gelnhausen  ; 
they  were  generally  of  rectangular  plan,  with  four  or  more  columns 
in  the  interior,  but  a  concentric  arrangement  appears  in  some  in- 
stances, as  at  Krukenburg,  Vianden,  and  Cobern.  The  other  struct- 
ures of  the  citadel  were  of  an  inferior  character,  and  were  usually 
built  against  the  fortification  walls. 


Fig.  182.— Section  of  the  Double  Chapel  of  Landsberg. 

The  domestic  architecture  of  the  middle  classes  was,  before  the 
thirteenth  century,  entirely  restricted  to  constructions  of  wood  or 
logging.  The  few  houses  of  stone  referable  to  the  twelfth  century 
were  built  by  patrician  families,  who,  in  some  instances,  even  gave 
their  town  dwellings  an  aristocratic  and  fortress-like  character  by 
the  addition  of  towers,  as  is  evident  in  a  number  of  houses  in  Rat- 
isbon,  and  notably  in  a  mansion  in  the  Trinitarier  Strasse  in  Metz, 
the  windows  in  the  lower  story  of  which,  however,  date  to  the 

iothic  period.  The  dwellings  of  the  common  citizens  were  still 
built  with  open  arcades  on  the  ground-floor.  Their  primitive  sup- 

>orts  of  wood  were  gradually  replaced  by  short  and  thick  columns 


J08  ROMANIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

of  stone,  connected  by  segmental  arches,  the  passage  being  occa- 
sionally covered  with  cross-vaults.  The  upper  part  of  these  build- 
ings continued  to  be  constructed  of  nogging,  as  the  custom  of  pro- 
jecting the  stories  by  corbels  remained  in  favor. 

The  civic  buildings  of  this  period  were  not  important,  even 
the  town -halls  and  wooden  market -halls  being  insignificant.  As 
the  first  consideration  in  the  laying-out  of  the  fortified  cities  was 
to  restrict  the  area  as  much  as  possible,  the  streets  and  places  were 
extremely  narrow,  and  suffered  all  the  disadvantages  in  monu- 
mental respects  which  result  from  a  cramped  plan.  Stone  bridges 
were  rare.  That  over  the  Danube  at  Ratisbon,  a  remarkably  fine 
work,  321  m.  long,  built  between  1135  and  1146,  was  without  a  par- 
allel at  the  time  of  its  erection.  There  now  remains  but  one  of  the 
three  towers  which  originally  stood  at  either  end  and  on  the  middle 
of  the  structure.  The  bridge  over  the  Rhine  at  Basle,  built  in  1226, 
appears  not  to  have  been  continued  in  masonry  beyond  the  six 
arches  now  preserved.  Works  of  this  kind  were  remarkable  for 
the  irregularity  of  their  plan  and  the  fortuitous  character  of  the 
levels  and  the  main  lines  of  the  memberment.  The  attention  of 
the  builders  was  so  exclusively  devoted  to  the  stability  and  prac- 
tical convenience  of  their  constructions  that  but  little  heed  was 
given  to  the  higher  qualities  of  design. 


Fig.  183. — Interior  of  S.  Ambrogio  in  Milan. 

ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE    ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

ITALY. 

^HE  political  uncertainty  and  dissolution  of  the  age  of  the  later 
Carolingians,  felt  throughout  the  Occident,  was  nowhere  of 
more  disastrous  effect  than  in  Italy.*  The  efforts  made  for  centu- 
ries by  the  Lombards  to  unite  the  provinces  of  Upper  and  Lower 
Italy  into  one  realm  were  of  no  avail,  and  even  the  power  of  Charle- 
jnagne  was  not  able  to  bring  about  this  end.  Venice  had  become 
still  more  independent  after  its  fortification  in  the  year  8 10,  while 
the  political  isolation  of  Rome  was  increased.  The  Lombardic 

*  H.  Gaily  Knight,  The  Ecclesiastical  Architecture  of  Italy  from  the  Time  of  Constan- 
tine  to  the  Fifteenth  Century.  London,  1842. — F.  Osten,  Die  Bauwerke  der  Lombardei 
irom  7. -14.  Jahrhundert.  Darmstadt. — A.  Ricci,  Storia  dell  Architettura  in  Italia  del  secolo 
IV.  al  XVIII.  Modena,  1857  sq. — Ch.  E.  Norton,  Historical  Studies  of  Church  Building 
in  the  Middle  Ages.  New  York,  1880. — C.  Boito,  Architettura  del  Medio  Evo  in  Italia. 
Milano,  1880. — O.  Mothes,  Die  Baukunst  des  Mittelalters  in  Italien  von  der  ersten  Ent- 
wickelung  bis  zu  ihrer  hochsten  Bluthe.  Jena,  1882-1884. 


ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

dukes  of  Ivrea,  Spoleto,  and  Benevento  were  but  little  inclined  to 
accept  their  position  as  vassals  of  the  Carolingian  emperors,  and 
Apulia,  Calabria,  and  Sicily  still  remained  Byzantine.  The  three 
last-named  territories  suffered  much  from  the  invasions  of  the 
Arabs,  who,  after  many  unsuccessful  attempts,  took  Palermo  in 
831,  and  not  only  occupied  the  whole  of  Sicily,  but  continued  their 
advance  into  Lower  Italy. 

It  is  well  known  what  misfortunes  were  experienced  in  Italy  by 
the  last  four  emperors  of  the  Saxon  house.  As  soon  as  they  turned 
their  backs  upon  that  country  usurpers  sprang  up  upon  every  side. 
In  Lower  Italy  there  even  appeared  a  third  race  of  foreign  conquer- 
ors, the  Normans,  who  at  first,  A.D.  1003,  appeared  in  small  bands 
of  pilgrims,  but  soon  after,  A.D.  1022,  under  the  sons  of  Tancred  of 
Hauteville,  made  bold  claims,  not  only  occupying  the  county  of 
Apulia,  with  Melfi  as  their  chief  town,  but  defending  this  district 
against  the  monarchs  both  of  the  German  and  of  the  Eastern  em- 
pires, and  even  against  the  Pope.  Robert  Guiscard,  who  in  1056 
had  become  Duke  of  Apulia  and  Calabria,  saw  the  Arabs  driven 
from  Sicily  by  his  brother  Roger,  while  he  himself  carried  his  vic- 
torious arms  against  the  Byzantines  into  Thessalonica,  and  even 
drove  the  emperor  Henry  IV.  from  Rome.  After  the  entire  sub- 
jugation of  Sicily,  A.D.  1090,  the  extensive  power  of  the  Normans 
in  Lower  Italy  might  well  be  compared  to  the  contemporary  do- 
minion of  their  countrymen  in  England,  A.D.  1066  to  1154,  found- 
ed by  William  the  Conqueror. 

The  greater  part  of  Italy  was  thus  in  the  possession  of  two  Ger- 
manic races.  The  northern  districts  were  still  Lombardic,  at  least 
in  artistic  respects,  and  developed  a  style  which  was  in  the  main  a 
rejuvenation  of  the  Oriental  and  early  Christian  traditions;  while 
the  culture  of  the  South  under  the  Normans  was  combined  of  By- 
zantine, Arabian,  and  Northern  elements.  The  intervening  Roman 
and  Tuscan  provinces  long  continued  to  practise  the  artistic  meth- 
ods of  the  early  Christians,  without  originality  and  without  advance, 
until  Tuscany,  affected  by  Lombardic  influences,  awakened  to  a 
more  important  architectural  activity.  Byzantine  traditions,  on  the 
other  hand,  were  revived  in  Venice,  which  had  succeeded  to  the 
inheritance  of  Ravenna.  These  four  styles  often  appear  side  by 


ITALY.  311 

side,  in  comparative  purity,  as  well  as  blended  in  various  degrees, — 
it  being  impossible  to  define  their  limits  exactly,  notwithstanding 
the  admirable  investigations  of  Boito  and  Mothes.  Moreover,  the 
monuments  have  been  so  frequently  transformed  in  the  course  of 
subsequent  centuries,  that  the  part  attributable  to  the  different 
epochs  is  not  always  to  be  determined  with  certainty. 

No  memorials  have  been  preserved  of  the  earlier  period  of  the 
Lombardic  occupation  more  ancient  than  the  churches  referable  to 
the  age  of  the  archbishop  Ambrosius,  A.D.  374  to  397.  The  cruci- 
form plan  which  had  become  predominant  in  Milan  was  favored  by 
Ambrosius.  It  appears  to  have  been  adopted  in  the  older  construc- 
tion of  S.  Abondio  in  Como,  of  which  some  remains,  dating  to  the 
end  of  the  fourth  century,  have  recently  been  discovered.  With 
this  arrangement  was  early  combined  the  elevation  of  the  choir  by 
the  introduction  of  a  crypt.  It  appears  that  the  Magistri  Comacini,* 
who  took  their  name  from  the  quarries  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
Lake  of  Como,  and  were  employed  as  early  as  the  reign  of  Queen 
Theodelinde,  A.D.  590  to  615,  did  not  owe  their  great  fame  to  any 
higher  artistic  qualities  than  their  training  as  practical  stone-cutters. 
The  constructions  of  Milan  referable  to  Theodosius  and  Ambrosius, 
which  combined  the  style  of  the  Occident  with  that  of  Byzantium 
and  Ravenna,  were  for  centuries  of  decisive  influence  upon  the  archi- 
tectural development  of  the  country.  It  is  certain  that  the  other 
Lombardic  towns  of  this  period  present  no  material  innovations, 
and  neither  Pavia,  Como,  Brescia,  the  cities  of  the  Emilia  as  far 
as  Bologna,  nor  the  two  southern  Lombardic  capitals,  Spoleto  and 
Benevento,  display  in  their  architecture  any  advance  beyond  the 
style  of  the  ancient  ecclesiastical  centre  of  Northern  Italy. 

A  statistical  account  of  the  ecclesiastical  buildings  of  Italy  ante- 
dating the  eighth  century  enumerates  about  a  hundred  basilicas 
and  fifty  concentric  edifices.  In  later  ages  this  proportion  was 
changed  in  favor  of  the  basilical  system.  After  the  eighth  century, 
however,  the  introduction  of  transepts,  of  crypts  and  raised  choirs, 

*  Baudi  di  Vesme  and  C.  Promis  (Edicta  Regum  Longobardorum  de  Structoribus, 
Turin,  1847)  publish  and  comment  upon  the  remarkable  by-laws  of  this  society,  and  the 
privileges  conferred  upon  it,  about  the  year  644,  by  King  Rotharic. 


312 


ARCHITECTURE  OF  THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


of  galleries,  and  of  domes  above  the  intersection  of  the  transept 
and  nave,  became  more  common— all  these  features  resulting  from 
a  combination  of  Byzantine  elements  with  the  early  Christian  ba- 
silical  arrangement.  To  this  may  be  added  the  attempts  to  de- 
velop new  varieties  of  the  Corinthian  capital,  as  well  as  the  pref- 
erence for  surmounted  arches  without  archivolt  mouldings.  The 
supports  were  gradually  changed  from  the  ranges  of  columns  univer- 
sal in  the  basilicas,  to  piers  or  to  an  alternation  of  round  and  square 

shafts.      The  apertures,  on 
the   other   hand,  were    but 
rarely    splayed.      Window- 
glass  came  into  common  use 
after  the  fifth  century,  the 
rough  bull's-eyes  being  of- 
ten  of   various   colors,  but 
limited  to  the  small  holes 
of    the    perforated    marble 
slab     which     formed     the 
frame.     During  this  period 
lead -glazing  was  gradually 
adopted,  the  colored  panes 
being   arranged   in   mosaic- 
like  patterns.     The  ceiling 
was  generally  not  panelled, 
the  open  timbered  roof  of 
the  basilica  being  retained ; 
nevertheless,  the   way   was 
prepared   for    the   vaulting 
of  the  nave  by  the  introduction  of  transverse  arches,  and  by  the 
vaulting  of  the  side  aisles,  this  forming  the  floors  of  the  galleries. 
The  exterior  had  no  other  decoration  than  the  patterns  formed 
by  colored  bricks,  while  the  cornices  were  restricted  to  projecting 
courses  and  diagonal  bonds  of  the  same  material  (Fig.  184).     The 
lintels  of  the  portals  were  commonly  protected  by  a  discharging 
arch.     The  earliest  campaniles  known  date  to  the  sixth  century, 
but  such  towers  did  not  come  into  favor  during  subsequent  ages, 
and  were  seldom  erected  in  connection  with  the  churches. 


Fig.  184. — Detail  of  the  Cloister  in  the  Convent  of 
Gerusalemme,  Bologna.     Tenth  Century. 


ITALY.  3  r  3 

As  has  been  shown  in  a  former  chapter,  there  are  but  few  archi- 
tectural memorials  referable  in  their  present  state  to  the  time  of  the 
Lombardic  kings.  In  like  manner  the  buildings  erected  in  Lom- 
bardy  during  the  Carolingian  epoch  have  almost  all  been  entirely 
transformed  by  subsequent  reconstructions.  A  notable  exception 
is  the  Church  of  S.  Ambrogio  in  Milan  (Fig.  183),  which  has  retained 
in  its  apse  and  dome  the  original  forms  of  the  eighth  century ;  while 
among  its  interior  adornments  there  are  still  preserved  the  pulpit 
of  Pemmo,  dating  to  784,  above  the  sarcophagus  of  Stilicho,  the 
golden  altar  of  A.D.  822,  the  tabernacle  above  it  of  835,  and  nota- 
bly the  mosaic  of  the  apse,  executed  between  832  and  880.  The 
dome  and  the  termination  of  the  choir  present  some  similarity  to 
S.  Lorenzo ;  but  the  low  proportions  of  the  apse,  resulting  from 
the  introduction  of  the  crypt,  lead  to  the  supposition  that  it  may 
have  belonged  to  a  still  more  primitive  structure.  The  nave  un- 
questionably formed  part  of  a  horizontally  ceiled  basilica,  and  re- 
ceived its  present  form  by  a  later  reconstruction,  probably  dating 
to  the  twelfth  century.  The  portico  and  the  atrium,  the  latter  of 
which  was  first  constructed  between  863  and  88 1,  now  display  in 
the  capitals  of  their  piers  and  engaged  columns  features  referable  to 
the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  century ;  their  vaults,  corbel-tables, 
etc.,  are  possibly  a  hundred  years  later.  The  details  of  the  nave, 
portico,  and  atrium  are  closely  related  to  those  of  the  nave  of  S. 
Micchele  in  Pavia,  built  between  1024  and  1155,  and  to  the-remains 
of  the  Church  of  S.  Celso  in  Milan,  referable  to  about  the  same 
period. 

The  concentric  churches,  having  been  originally  vaulted,  have 
preserved  more  of  their  primitive  construction  than  have  the  ba- 
silicas. The  chief  parts  of  the  Old  Cathedral  of  Brescia  and  of  S. 
Stefano  (San  Sepolcro)  in  Bologna  antedate  the  Carolingian  epoch ; 
the  capitals  and  corbel-tables  of  S.  Pietro  in  Asti  and  S.  Tomaso 
in  Almenno  near  Bergamo  (Fig.  185),  on  the  other  hand,  may  be 
taken  as  a  proof  of  an  extensive  restoration  of  these  edifices,  if 
not  of  their  later  origin.  With  exception  of  the  round  building  of 
Brescia,  the  arches  of  which  are  supported  upon  clumsy  piers,  all 
these  structures  resemble  S.  Costanza  near  Rome,  or  S.  Maria  Ro- 
tonda  at  Nocera,  their  domes  being  placed  upon  a  circle  of  columns, 


314 


ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


while  the  surrounding  passage  is  covered  with  barrel  or  cross  vaults. 
Galleries,  opened  to  the  central  space  by  arches,  appear  in  S.  Ste- 
fano  and  S.  Tomaso.  In  like  manner  as  the  Cathedral  of  Brescia 
influenced  the  plan  of  the  Minster  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  buildings  sim- 
ilar to  that  of  Almenno  served  as  models  for  the  round  churches  of 
Burgundy,  Normandy,  and  England.  The  Old  Cathedral  of  Arezzo, 
built  towards  the  end  of  the  ninth  century  and  torn  down  five  hun- 
dred years  later,  was  an  octagonal  structure  similar  to  S.  Vitale  in 


Fig.  185. — Section  of  S.  Tomaso  at  Almenno.  . 

Ravenna.  On  the  other  hand,  the  great  Baptistery  of  Florence,  the 
first  construction  of  which  is  without  doubt  referable  to  the  Lom- 
bards, followed  the  antique  circular  system  with  arches  in  the  sur- 
rounding walls,  —  exemplified  in  the  Baptistery  of  S.  Lorenzo  in 
Milan,  perhaps  dating  to  the  fourth  century,  and  in  that  of  the 
Cathedral  of  Novara,  which  is  a  century  later.  The  Baptistery  of 
Parma,  built  in  1196,  was  imitated  from  that  of  Florence,  with 
greater  magnificence  than  artistic  success. 

The  peculiarly  Romanic  forms — the  cube  capital,  dwarf  gallery, 


ITALY. 


315 


and  arched  corbel-table—do  not  seem  to  have  been  employed  in 
Italy  before  the  end  of  the  tenth  century.  It  is  the  opinion  of  the 
writer  that  the  reconstruction  of  S.  Abondio  in  Como  (Fig.  186) 
took  place  at  the  time  when  this  church  came  into  the  possession 
of  the  Benedictine  monks,  A.D.  1013;  if  this  be  true,  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  cube  capitals  should  appear  in  the  nave  of  this  five- 
aisled  basilica.  Still,  this  form  did  not  become  common,  the  tradi- 
tional Corinthian  and  Byzantine  varieties  continuing  in  general  use. 


Fig.  1 86. — Plan  and  System  of  S.  Abondio  in  Como. 

rhile  the  influence  of  Germany  is  evident  in  the  cube  capital,  the 

^ombardic   origin    of  the  dwarf  gallery  is  almost  beyond  doubt. 

'his  elaborate  cornice  termination  seems  to  have  been  developed 
from  the  arcades  in  relief  of  the  outer  walls,  in  imitation  of  the  gal- 

>ries  of  small  columns  which  had  appeared  at  Spalatro  even  in  the 
time  of  Diocletian,  and  had  been  adopted  in  the  buildings  of  the 

)strogoths  in  Ravenna.  But  although  these  dwarf  galleries  may 
lave  been  added  to  the  facades  as  early  as  the  Carolingian  epoch, 
they  do  not  seem  to  have  been  generally  employed  for  the  cornices 


316  ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

of  the  apses  and  towers  above  the  intersection  of  nave  and  tran- 
sept before  the  eleventh  century.  It  would  be  a  mistake  to  suppose 
that  a  horizontal  entablature  preceded  the  arcades  connecting  these 
diminutive  shafts ;  for  although  the  gallery  of  trabeate  construction 
of  S.  Maria  in  Arezzo,  which  was  completed  in  the  year  999,  is  one 
of  the  earliest  dated  examples  of  this  feature,  the  similar  dwarf  col- 
onnade upon  the  apse  of  S.  Frediano  in  Lucca  is  known  to  be  as 
recent  as  1260. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  uncertain  whether  the  characteristic 
innovation  of  the  arched  corbel-table,  which  was  soon  extended 
throughout  Western  Europe  as  the  substitute  for  the  cornices  of 
bricks  formed  by  projecting  zigzag  courses,  first  appeared  in  Upper 
Italy  or  in  Germany.  Even  though  the  age  of  the  walls  be  known 
with  certainty,  it  is  always  difficult  to  assign  a  definite  date  to  the 
cornice,  a  member  which  is  affected  by  every  alteration  of  the  roof 
and  ceiling.  The  position  and  character  of  the  ornament  of  inter- 
secting arches  which  appears  upon  the  tabernacle  of  S.  Ambrogio 
in  Milan  by  no  means  proves  the  existence  of  the  arched  corbel- 
table  in  the  ninth  century. 

The  most  important  of  these  questions  of  priority,  —  that  re- 
lating to  the  appearance  of  vaulted  basilicas, — cannot  be  answered 
with  certainty.  As  the  greater  number  of  the  stone  ceilings  were 
at  first  added  to  already  existing  buildings,  the  beginning  was 
probably  made  in  those  which  had  been  provided  with  trans- 
verse arches  to  relieve  in  some  measure  the  supports  of  the  clere- 
story wall  from  the  weight  of  the  roof.  S.  Zeno  in  Verona, — 
the  reconstruction  of  which  was  begun  in  961,  soon  after  discon- 
tinued, taken  up  again  in  the  eleventh  century,  and  completed  to- 
wards the  beginning  of  the  twelfth,  —  shows  that,  even  in  impor- 
tant buildings  of  the  latter  period,  transverse  arches,  supporting  an 
open  timbered  roof  and  resting  upon  piers  placed  between  the  col- 
umns of  the  nave,  were  considered  adequate  for  a  monumental  con- 
struction. The  interior  of  this  three-aisled  basilica  is  for  the  most 
part  referable  to  the  eleventh  century;  in  contrast  to  the  Lom- 
bardic  style,  it  displays  none  of  the  German  influences  naturally  to 
have  been  expected  in  the  city  which  Charlemagne  had  chosen  to 
be  the  capital  of  Italy, — especially  as  the  exterior  of  S.  Zeno  itself 


ITALY.  3I- 

and  that  of  other  Veronese  buildings,  such  as  S.  Pietro  in  Castello, 
distinctly  exhibit  the  German  elements.  Another  work  surely  at- 
tributable to  the  Lombards  presents  a  distinct  advance  in  these  re- 
spects, namely,  the  Cathedral  of  Novara,  in  which  four  piers  of  cru- 
ciform plan  were  added  to  the  ranges  of  columns  during  a  later 
construction,  probably  about  the  year  1020, — these  not  only  sup- 
porting two  transverse  arches  above  the  nave,  but  a  ceiling  of  stone 
formed  by  three  cross-vaults.  In  the  primitive  basilica  the  alterna- 
tion of  piers  with  the  columns,  the  transverse  arches,  and  the  com- 
partments thus  resulting,  had  all  prepared  the  way  for  the  adoption 
of  cross-vaults.  The  barrel-vaults  of  the  nave  and  the  semibarrel- 
vaults  of  the  side  aisles, — which  were  common  in  Southern  France, 
and  had  been  introduced  in  some  instances  in  Southern  Italy,  such 
as  S.  Maria  in  Altamura  and  S.  Maria  Immaculata  in  Trani, — were 
not  employed  in  the  churches  of  Northern  Italy. 

SS.  Pietro  e  Paolo  in  Bologna  (Fig.  187)  seems  to  have  been 
originally  designed  with  reference  to  the  introduction  of  cross- 
vaulting.  Although  not  susceptible  of  definite  proof,  it  is  proba- 
ble that  the  regular  alternation  of  the  supports,  together  with  the 
vaulting,  dates  to  the  year  1014,  and  consequently  that  the  priority 
in  this  most  important  constructive  advance  is  to  be  ascribed  to 
Italy.  The  employment  of  fragments  of  older  buildings,  the  clum- 
sy memberment  of  the  supports,  and  the  manner  of  increasing  the 
strength  of  the  wall  by  rectangular  pilasters  rising  above  the  en- 
gaged columns  to  the  spring  of  the  vault,  all  give  a  most  primitive 
character  to  this  church.  Compared  with  the  tentative  and  uncer- 
tain system  of  SS.  Pietro  e  Paolo,  the  nave  of  S.  Micchele  in  Pavia 
(Fig.  1 88),  slowly  built  after  1024,  exhibits  a  far  higher  degree  of 
experience  and  ability.  It  was  designed  with  a  regular  alternation 
of  piers  of  different  strength,  and  evidently  with  the  intention  of 
introducing  a  vaulted  system  similar  to  that  of  the  former  church, 
but  during  the  construction  this  plan  was  so  changed  that  every 
support  was  employed  as  the  impost  for  a  separate  compartment,  in 
the  nave  as  well  as  in  the  side  aisles.  The  same  system  appears  in 
the  Cathedral  of  Parma  (Fig.  189),  the  original  structure  of  which 
was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1058,  while  the  new  edifice  was  so  severely 
injured  by  an  earthquake  in  1117,  eleven  years  after  its  consecration, 


3l8  ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC    EPOCH. 

that  a  restoration  became  necessary,  which  lasted  for  more  than  half 
a  century.  These  alterations,  however,  do  not  seem  to  have  greatly 
affected  the  style  of  the  building.  The  three- aisled  body  of  the 
church,  as  is  evident  from  the  formation  of'the  piers,  was  originally 
designed  with  reference  to  five  vaults  in  the  plan  of  each  compart- 
ment. Nevertheless,  the  uneven  number  of  the  arcades,  determined 
by  the  retention  of  the  transept  and  other  parts  of  the  original 
structure,  ultimately  led  to  the  adoption  of  simple  cross-vaults  in 
the  compartments  above  each  arch,  the  alternation  of  the  piers  thus 


o     i     i — r 

Fig.  187.— Plan  and  System  of  SS.  Pietro  e  Paolo. 

becoming  of  no  constructive  significance.  The  Cathedral  of  Mo- 
dena,  the  rebuilding  of  which  was  begun  in  1099,  was  calculated  in 
plan  for  five  vaults  in  each  double  compartment.  During  the 
progress  of  the  building  the  design  was  so  altered  as  to  introduce 
in  the  nave  a  cross -vault  above  each  arcade,  and  the  wall -arches 
and  the  console  for  the  impost  of  the  transverse  rib  were  built  in 
accordance  with  this  system.  The  vaulting  was,  however,  ultimate- 
ly carried  out  as  originally  conceived, — with  a  simple  cross-vault,  the 
static  significance  of^the  alternation  of  the  piers  and  columns  thus 


ITALY. 


319 


being  maintained.  An  unwillingness  to  increase  the  height  of  the 
nave  rendered  it  necessary  to  begin  the  spring  of  the  main  vaults 
upon  a  lower  level  than  the  impost  of  the  previously  completed 
wall-arches  of  the  sixfold  system  which  had  been  given  up,  while 
the  transverse  ribs  became  of  a  pointed  shape  (Fig.  190).  Similar  to 
the  Cathedral  of  Modena  is  that  of  Ferrara,  consecrated  in  1135, 
— an  enormous  building  with  a  great  wealth  of  sculptured  orna- 
mentation, but  by  no  means  pleasing  in  arrangement  and  propor- 
tions, the  effect  of  the  interior,  moreover,  being  entirely  altered  by 


-2... 


Fig.  1 88. — Plan  and  System  of  S.  Micchele  in  Pavia. 

modern  restorations.  Among  the  chief  works  of  Lombardic  archi- 
tecture must  further  be  mentioned  the  Cathedral  of  Cremona,  built 
between  1107  and  1190,  of  the  original  form  of  which  little  is  now 
evident;  and  also  the  Cathedral  of  Piacenza,  begun  in  1122,  an  im- 
posing construction  with  cylindrical  supports  and  a  three -aisled 
transept.  The  influence  of  these  structures  is  evident  not  only  in 
the  Cathedral  of  Trent,  rebuilt  after  1124,  and  in  that  of  Zara,  con- 
secrated in  1285,  but  even  in  the  churches  of  Normandy,  which  will 
be  described  in  the  subsequent  chapter. 


320 


ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


The  characteristics  of  all  the  Lombardic  cathedrals  are  a  basil- 
ical  faQade  without  towers,  effective  and  elegantly  carved  portals, 
and  dwarf  galleries,  which  are  frequently  duplicated  and  take  the 
place  of  the  corbel -tables  on  the  gables.  With  exception  of  the 
facade  of  S.  Zeno  in  Verona,  which  displays  German  influences,  a 
systematic  memberment  of  the  walls  was  not  adopted,  so  that  they 
did  not  attain  to  the  vigorous  vertical  effect  of  the  German  ca- 
thedrals. Nor  can  the  Lombardic  churches  be  compared  with  the 


0     1     1     3     -,     5  w  Hi- 

Fig.  189. — Plan  and  System  of  the  Cathedral  of  Parma. 

Northern  edifices  in  respect  to  unity  of  design,  their  front  walls  gen- 
erally not  being  organically  connected  with  the  sides,  and  conse- 
quently giving  the  impression  of  a  screen  placed  before  the  interior. 
Venice  was  the  only  city  of  Northern  Italy  which  did  not  adopt 
the  architectural  forms  developed  in  Lombardy.  As  the  most  im- 
portant emporium  of  the  Adriatic  and  the  successor  of  Ravenna, 
the  town  at  all  times  and  in  every  way  directed  its  chief  attention 
towards  the  East.  The  political  power  of  Byzantium,  which  had 
retained  its  hold  longer  in  Venice  than  in  any  other  part  of  Italy, 


ITALY. 


321 


furthered  these  tendencies.  Even  after  the  election  of  the  first 
doge,  A.  D.  697,  when  this  supremacy  had  become  merely  nominal, 
the  artistic  traditions  of  Ravenna  and  Byzantium  not  only  contin- 
ued to  be  cultivated,  but  were  renewed  by  the  direct  influence  of 
Constantinople.  We  are  informed  that  the  second  construction  of 
S.  Zaccaria,  in  the  year  827,  was  made  at  the  expense  of  the  em- 
peror Leo,  and  even  under  the  direct  supervision  of  an  architect 
sent  from  Byzantium.  It  is  a  striking  evidence  of  the  preponder- 


•        i        19  3m  i     i     i     i    *    »  m* 

Fig.  190.— Plan  and  System  of  the  Cathedral  of  Modena. 

ance  of  the  artistic  methods  of  the  East  that  the  principal  church 
of  Venice,  S.  Marco,*  should  be  in  the  Byzantine  manner,  and  even 
deserves  to  be  considered  as  one  of  the  most  important  monuments 
of  that  style.  The  first  two  constructions,  referable  to  the  years 
between  830  and  864,  and  between  976  and  1008,  were,  it  is  true, 
basilical.  It  cannot  be  determined  in  how  far  the  Lombardic  struct- 
ures of  the  neighboring  Friuli  and  of  Milan  were  of  influence  upon 


*  G.  e  L.  Kreutz,  La  Basilica  di  S.  Marco  in  Venezia.     1843  sq. 
21 


322 


ARCHITECTURE  OF  THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


these  edifices,  which  may  have  owed  quite  as  many  of  their  peculiar 
characteristics  to  the  models  naturally  presented  by  Ravenna.  The 
addition  of  the  transepts  and  the  introduction  of  domes  in  the  place 
of  horizontal  wooden  ceilings  are  probably  referable  to  the  recon- 
struction made  between  1052  and  1071.  The  effects  of  these  alter- 
ations upon  the  general  arrangement  are  to  be  seen  in  the  plan 
(Fig.  191),  which  is  taken  from  Boito's  work. 

It  may  be  assumed  that  S.  Marco  was  of  decisive  influence  upon 
the  architecture  of  Venice  during  the  Romanic  epoch,  although  but 


Fig.  191. — Plan  of  the  Church  of  St.  Mark  in  Venice. 

few  remains  have  been  preserved  of  the  contemporary  churches  of 
S.  Leonardo,  S.  Catterina,  S.  Aponale,  S.  Secondo,  and  S.  Croce  in 
Luprio.  The  cathedrals  of  Grado,  Torcello,  and  Murano,  all  of 
which  were  rebuilt  and  extended  during  the  tenth  and  eleventh 
centuries,  are  of  basilical  arrangement,  and  exhibit  the  influences 
of  Ravenna.  On  the  other  hand,  the  cruciform  and  concentric  plan 
of  S.  Fosca  in  Torcello  appears,  from  the  date  of  its  erection,  rather 
as  a  prototype  than  as  a  copy  of  S.  Marco. 

In  striking  contrast  to  the  Byzantine  traditions  of  Venice,  Cen- 
tral Italy  long  retained  the  classic  architectural  methods  in   com- 


ITALY.  323 

parative  purity.  The  city  of  Rome,  especially,  clung  to  the  early 
Christian  types  with  great  persistency,  and  the  construction  and 
restoration  of  the  basilicas  referable  to  the  Romanic  epoch  so  close- 
ly followed  the  ancient  patterns  that  antique  materials  continued  to 
be  directly  employed  in  these  edifices.  The  influence  of  Lombardy, 
from  Spoleto,  and  of  Tuscany,  from  the  valley  of  the  Arno,  extended 
almost  to  the  gates  of  Rome,  while  that  of  the  Holy  City  itself  was 
at  this  time  limited  to  the  Papal  States.  The  low  standard  of  Rome 
in  artistic  respects  is  evident  from  the  celebrity  attached  to  the 
House  of  Crescentius,  built  about  the  year  1000, — a  work  which  in 
Milan  would  have  scarcely  been  considered  worthy  of  mention. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  was  in  Rome  a  peculiar  school  of  dec- 
oration, of  considerable  local  importance  although  of  foreign  origin. 
This  appears  to  have  been  developed  from  the  impulse  given  by 
the  school  of  art  founded  in  Monte  Casino,  A.D.  1066,  by  the  abbot 
Desiderius,  who  summoned  to  his  convent  the  most  skilful  artists 
of  Amalfi  and  of  Lombardy.  The  objects  there  produced  were 
chiefly  funeral  monuments,  tabernacles,  Easter  candlesticks,  bish- 
ops' thrones,  pulpits,  chancel  screens,  balustrades,  etc. ;  but  works 
of  a  more  architectural  character  were  also  executed,  such  as  rood- 
lofts,  portals,  and  cloisters.  Antique  forms  were  predominant  in 
the  ornamentations,  combined  with  Lombardic  and  Romanic  ele- 
ments and  with  Byzantine  intarsia  and  mosaic  work:  architraves, 
friezes,  archivolts,  pilasters,  and  even  the  shafts  of  columns  being 
covered  with  delicate  and  effective  patterns.  A  Roman  artist  by 
the  name  of  Guido,  who  flourished  in  Corneto  about  the  year  1121, 
founded  a  school  which  seems  to  have  continued  for  three  genera- 
tions. A  second  family  of  artists  was  that  of  the  marmorarius 
Paulus,  whose  sons  executed  after  1147  the  tabernacle  of  S.  Lo- 
renzo fuori  le  Mura,  and  in  the  year  1150  that  of  S.  Croce,  which 
latter  no  longer  exists.  Nicolaus,  a  grandson  of  Paulus,  was  em- 
ployed between  1160  and  1170  upon  the  Easter  candlestick  of 
S.  Paolo  fuori  le  Mura,  and  in  1180  upon  the  lectorium  of  S.  Bar- 
tolommeo  in  Rome,  now  remaining  in  a  fragmentary  condition.  The 
fame  of  these  families  was  exceeded  by  that  of  a  third,  namely,  of 
Laurentius,  who,  together  with  his  son  Jacobus,  executed  the  Ambo 
of  Araceli  in  Rome  about  1170,  as  well  as  the  portals  of  the  Cathe- 


324  ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

dral  of  Civita  Castellana  and  of  S.  Maria  at  Fallen.  Cosmas,  the 
grandson  of  Laurentius,  was  employed  about  the  year  1210  upon 
the  portal  of  Civita  Castellana  (Fig.  192),  and  became  so  celebrated 
as  a  designer  that  the  manner  of  decoration  above  described  was 
afterwards  known  as  Cosmatic.  The  climax  of  this  style  was  reach- 
ed in  the  charming  cloisters  of  S.  Paolo  fuori  le  Mura,  and  of  the 
Lateran,  the  design  of  which  may  be  in  part  referred  to  the  archi- 
tect Vassalittus  (Bassalectus).  Gothic  forms  begin  to  appear  in 
the  beautiful  choir  stalls  of  S.  Lorenzo  fuori  le  Mura. 

The  architecture  of  Tuscany 
was  of  a  far  more  important  char- 
acter than  that  of  conservative 
Rome.  The  style  of  both  was 
founded  upon  the  classic  tradi- 
tions, but  the  former,  lying  be- 
tween Spoleto  and  the  cities  of 
the  Po,  had  been  much  affected 
by  Lombardic  influences,  and  not 
possessing  so  great  a  number  of 
antique  monuments  as  still  re- 
mained in  Rome,  was  naturally 
thrown  more  entirely  upon  its 
own  resources.  This  independence 
of  design  is  evident  in  the  few  re- 
mains of  S.  Paolo,  S.  Pietro,  S.  Ma- 
ria, and  S.  Andrea  in  Pistoja,  which 
have  been  preserved  from  the 

eighth  and  ninth  centuries.  It  is  known  that  S.  Pietro  was  built 
by  a  Lombardic  architect  named  Winichis,  and  Lombardic  influ- 
ences are  distinctly  evident  in  S.  Pier  Cigoli,  S.  Giusto  (Fig.  193), 
and  S.  Anastasia  in  Lucca,  the  substructure  of  these  churches,  in- 
cluding the  portals,  being,  without  doubt,  referable  to  their  original 
construction  about  the  year  750.  Traces  of  the  primitive  forms 
are  also  evident  in  S.  Paolo  a  Ripa  in  Pisa,  founded  under  the 
auspices  of  Charlemagne,  and  as  the  same  characteristics  are  met 
with  in  S.  Casciano  and  S.  Pietro  a  Grado  in  Pisa,  it  may  be  as- 
sumed that  the  pilasters  of  the  exterior,  connected  by  arches  in 


^^n^mA^r'^ 

Fig.  192. — Portal  of  the  Cathedral  of  Civ- 
ita Castellana. 


ITALY. 


325 


relief,  formed  part  of  the  first  decoration  of  these  edifices,  which 
must  consequently  have  differed,  at  least  externally,  from  the  tra- 
ditional basilical  arrangement.  The  same  system  was  repeated  in 
the  tenth  century,  as  is  evident  from  S.  Giulia  and  S.  Micchele  in 
Borgo  at  Lucca.  Although  the  architecture  of  Arezzo  and  Siena 
seems  to  have  been  developed  in  a  manner  similar  to  that  of  Pisa, 
Pistoja,  and  Lucca,  there  is  no  question  but  that  the  most  impor- 
tant place  among  these  cities  was  taken  by  the  powerful  Pisa.* 

This  artistic  pre-eminence  is  to  be  assigned  to  Pisa  after  the 
erection,  in  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh 
century,  of  the  imposing  Cathedral  with 
its  dependencies.  The  original  plan  of 
this  building,  which  was  begun  in  1005 
or  1006,  was  of  great  extent,  Pisa  having 
become  the  most  important  and  wealthy 
city  of  the  country  through  her  successes 
in  Southern  Italy,  Corsica,  Elba,  etc.  But 
it  was  only  after  the  plundering  of  Paler- 
mo, A.  D.  1063,  that  the  means  were  pro- 
vided for  the  extraordinarily  rich  inte- 
rior, the  magnificence  of  which  had  at 
that  time  no  parallel  among  the  ecclesi- 
astical edifices  of  Italy.  Even  these  re- 
sources were  exhausted  before  the  com- 
pletion of  the  building.  The  work  was 
suspended  in  1095,  and  could  only  be  re- 
sumed by  means  of  pecuniary  aid  given 
to  the  undertaking  by  the  Byzantine  em- 
peror. After  the  consecration  of  the  Cathedral,  in  1103,  the  interior 
decorations  were  carried  on  until  the  thirteenth  century.  Imposing 
as  was  the  enormous  space  of  the  body  of  the  church,  with  its  four 
two-storied  side  aisles  and  its  four  hundred  and  fifty  columns,  the 
construction  nevertheless  offers  but  few  important  innovations. 
The  cruciform  plan  (Fig.  194)  had  been  frequently  adopted  in  Milan 
after  the  early  Christian  epoch,  and  even  the  development  of  the 


Fig.  193. — Portal  of  S.  Giusto  in 
Lucca. 


*  M.  G.  Rohault  de  Fleury,  Les  Monuments  de  Pise.     Paris,  1866. 


326  ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

transepts  into  three-aisled  basilicas  had  appeared  in  the  Con- 
stantine  Church  of  the  Apostles  in  Byzantium.  The  columns 
were  for  the  greater  part  taken  from  antique  buildings,  and  the 
alternation  of  supports  in  the  galleries  had  been  common  among 
the  Lombards.  The  cross-vaults  which  were  introduced  into  the 
side  aisles  were  universal  at  that  period  in  all  two-storied  structures, 
as  were  also  the  wooden  ceilings  of  the  other  parts.  There  is  no 
trace  of  the  vertical  tendencies  of  the  Northern  style,  horizontal 
memberments  being  as  predominant  as  in  the  early  Christian  basili- 
cas. The  most  remarkable  of  the  innovations  were  of  doubtful  ad- 
vantage. The  continuation  of  the  two-storied  aisles  across  the  tran- 


Fig.  194. — Plan  of  the.  Cathedral  of  Pisa. 

sept  separated  the  latter  from  the  body  of  the  church,  depriving  it 
of  all  unity;  moreover,  the  dome  of  oval  plan,  above  the  oblong  in- 
tersection of  the  transept  and  nave,  was  not  of  good  effect,  either 
within  or  without,  and  is  to  be  regarded  as  an  addition  not  contem- 
plated in  the  original  design.  Notwithstanding  these  drawbacks, 
the  charm  of  the  harmonious  proportions  is  undeniable,  the  dimen- 
sions of  the  details  increasing  the  apparent  size  of  the  whole,  while 
the  arcades  in  relief  and  dwarf  galleries  of  the  exterior  repeat  in  or- 
ganic elaboration  the  forms  of  the  interior  (Fig's.  195  and  196). 

The  rotunda  of  the  Baptistery  was  begun  at  a  somewhat  later 
period,  A.  D.  1153.    The  central  structure,  supported  upon  columns, 


ITALY. 


327 


was  of  the  form  which  had  remained  customary  throughout  Italy 
after  the  early  Christian  period,  but  it  was  not  of  so  good  propor- 
tions as  the  before  -  mentioned  Lombardic  buildings,  the  height  of 
the  dome  leading  to  a  too  great  attenuation.  The  weak  circle  of 
Corinthian  columns  with  the  stilted  arches  form  a  somewhat  haz- 
ardous support  for  the  high  gallery  of  piers,  while  the  conical  dome 
was  of  so  displeasing  a  form  that  a  cupola  shell  was  adopted  at  a 
later  period  to  improve  at  least  the  outline,  and  at  the  same  time 
to  counteract  the  excessive  thrust. 

So  insecure  a  construction  as  that  of  the  domes  of  the  Bap- 
tistery and  of  the  Cathedral  was  nowhere  more  out  of  place  than 
at  Pisa.  Venice,  Ferrara,  and  Bologna,  and  other  cities  of  Northern 


Fig.  195. — Longitudinal  Section  of  the  Cathedral  of  Pisa. 

Italy,  had  experienced  great  difficulty  with  unstable  foundations,  a 
great  number  of  their  buildings  settling  irregularly.  These  disad- 
vantages were  particularly  felt  in  Pisa,  where  the  swampy  soil,  ex- 
posed to  volcanic  disturbances,  occasioned  most  serious  displace- 
ments, requiring  many  adjustments  and  anchorings  to  be  made 
during  the  course  of  the  construction.  After  the  warnings  re- 
ceived during  the  erection  of  the  Cathedral  and  Baptistery,  in  which 
almost  all  the  lines  have  deviated  from  the  vertical  and  horizon- 
tal, it  was  necessary  for  the  architect  of  the  Campanile,  begun  in 
1174,  to  be  particularly  careful  in  this  respect.  But  neither  pil- 
ings, deep  foundations,  nor  the  exceptional  thickness  of  the  cylin- 
drical walls  of  the  tower  could  avoid  the  disturbances  resulting 


328 


ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


from  the  movement  of  the  earth,  and  in  each  of  the  lower  stories  it 
was  necessary  to  equalize  the  horizontal  cornices  by  additions  to 
the  height  of  the  southern  side,  amounting  to  3  cm.  in  the  second, 
4  cm.  in  the  third,  and  7  cm.  in  the  fourth  story.  At  this  stage 
the  work  upon  the  building  was  suspended,  A.  D.  1186,  but  the 
pause  of  fifty  years  did  not  put  a  stop  to  the  troublesome  sinking, 
for  during  the  erection  of  the  fifth  gallery  a  further  settlement  of 
ii  cm.  was  observed.  The  inclination  of  the  structure  continued 
to  increase,  not  only  during  the  progress  of  the  work,  which  was 
taken  up  again  in  1350,  but  even  after  the  completion  of  the  tower, 
and  it  has  resulted,  notwithstanding  the  repeated  adjustments,  that 
the  upper  point  of  the  axis  overhangs  the  centre  of  the  plan  by 


Fig.  196.— View  of  the  Southern  Side  of  the  Cathedral  of  Pisa.    ' 

about  4.5  m.  The  exterior  treatment  of  the  cylindrical  tower  closely 
resembles  that  of  the  fa9ade  and  apse  of  the  Cathedral,  and  that  of 
the  Baptistery  before  the  introduction  of  Gothic  forms  in  its  decora- 
tion. Above  the  engaged  columns  and  arches  in  relief  of  the  lower 
story  rise  six  galleries  of  columns,  surmounted  by  an  eighth  story 
of  somewhat  smaller  diameter  in  which  the  engaged  columns  are 
repeated.  The  conical  roof,  which  seems  to  have  been  contem- 
plated in  the  original  design,  has  never  been  added.  The  height 
of  the  building,  now  about  55  m.,  and  its  many  stories,  led  to 
an  elaborate  treatment  of  the  exterior,  which  is  remarkable  for 
the  great  delicacy  of  the  details  peculiar  to  Pisan  architecture. 
The  Campanile  stands  entirely  isolated,  and  it  is  some  consola- 


ITALY.  329 

tion  for  its  infirmity  that  the  inclination  is  not  towards  the  Cathe- 
dral. 

The  architectural  style,  which  attained  its  highest  development 
in  Pisa,  was  so  closely  imitated  throughout  Tuscany  that  but  slight 
differences  can  be  observed  at  this  period  between  the  models  be- 
fore described  and  the  buildings  of  Siena,  Lucca,  Pistoja,  and  even 
of  Florence.  The  parts  of  the  Cathedral  of  S.  Martino  at  Lucca, 
which  are  referable  to  the  original  construction  between  1050  and 
1070,  most  closely  resemble  the  Cathedral  of  Pisa.  Florence  had 
early  developed  an  architectural  activity  with  a  certain  degree  of  in- 
dependence, but  the  Church  of  S.  Miniato  al  Monte,  probably  built 
in  its  present  form  as  early  as  1013,  exhibits  upon  the  exterior 
the  direct  influence  of  Pisa,  while  the  interior  still  retains  the  early 
Christian  forms.  The  lower  portions  of  the  Baptistery  of  Florence, 
displaying  a  certain  similarity  to  the  Pantheon,  were  probably  built 
during  the  sixth  and  seventh  centuries,  under  the  superintendence 
of  Lombardic  designers.  The  greater  part  of  the  construction  at 
present  remaining,  in  which  the  artistic  traditions  of  Rome  were 
combined  with  those  of  Ravenna,  dates  to  the  years  between  1120 
and  1150,  while  the  features  of  the  exterior,  referable  to  the  Middle 
Ages,  are  treated  in  a  manner  similar  to  that  of  S.  Miniato.  The 
revetment  of  the  walls  of  brick  with  slabs  of  different  colored  mar- 
bles is  characteristic  of  the  Florentine  buildings  of  this  epoch,  the 
alternation  of  colors  giving  an  effect  like  that  obtained  in  Pisa  by 
the  ashlar  courses  of  different  material. 

An  important  part  in  the  artistic  development  of  this  age  was 
taken  by  Toscanella,  which  is  to  be  considered  in  connection  with 
Tuscany,  it  not  having  been  added  to  the  Papal  States  until  the 
pontificate  of  Boniface  VIII.,  in  the  year  1295.  S.  Pietro,  founded 
in  628,  owes  its  present  form  in  great  measure  to  a  reconstruction 
made  between  the  years  1039  and  1090.  Its  similarity  to  the  almost 
contemporaneous  S.  Miniato  is  very  striking,  although  the  Lombar- 
dic elements,  probably  introduced  from  Spoleto,  are  more  noticea- 
ble than  in  Florence.  The  introduction  of  many  artistic  methods 
of  Southern  Italy  is  explicable  from  the  circumstance  that  Spo-  . 
leto  had  been  united  to  Benevento  in  967.  The  reconstruction  of  • 
S.  Pietro  was  soon  followed  by  that  of  S.  Maria  Novella,  like  the! 


330  ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPCfCH. 

former  a  three-aisled  and  horizontally  ceiled  basilica,  the  design  of 
which,  clearly  displaying  the  influence  of  the  North,  was  still  farther 
removed  from  the  traditions  of  Pisa  and  Rome. 

Southern  Italy  and  Sicily  were  affected  during  the  Middle  Ages 
by  very  different  civilizations,  the  combination  of  which  gave  to  the 
architecture  of  these  countries  a  most  peculiar  stamp.  The  Occi- 
dental art  of  the  early  Christians  was  here  maintained  but  a  short 
time.  The  provinces  of  Magna  Graecia  remained  longest  tributary 
to  the  Eastern  Empire,  and  had  thus  adopted  a  Byzantine  style 
similar  to  that  of  Ravenna,  receiving  nevertheless  from  the  neigh- 
boring Benevento  certain  Lombardic  influences.  It  is  questionable 
whether  the  style  of  the  Arabs  at  first  made  itself  much  felt,  as  the 
occupation  of  the  land  by  the  Mohammedans  put  an  entire  stop  to 
the  architectural  activity  of  the  Christians.  These  elements  seem, 
curiously  enough,  to  have  only  become  apparent  after  the  expulsion 
of  the  Saracens  by  the  Normans,  the  Norman  invaders  having  been 
readily  receptive  of  the  artistic  culture  of  their  predecessors.  In 
Apulia  the  architectural  forms  continued  to  be  developed  upon  the 
Byzantine  basis,  the  closely  related  Lombardic  and  Norman  ele- 
ments being  easily  reconciled ;  but  in  Sicily  this  combination  was 
modified  by  Moorish  traditions,  the  result  being  a  style  of  peculiar 
and  most  important  character. 

Roger  Guiscard,  who  had  conquered  Sicily  in  1061,  must  have 
been  well  acquainted  with  the  buildings  of  his  home  in  the  North 
of  France,  and  have  retained  a  preference  for  their  style.  He  at 
once  appointed  a  Norman,  Robert  of  Evroult,  as  the  chief  ecclesias- 
tical authority  of  the  island,  and  seems. to  have  desired  to  make  the 
new  castles  and  churches  similar  in  appearance  to  those  of  his  na- 
tive land.  But  as  we  are  informed  that  he  brought  together  archi- 
tects and  masons  "  from  all  quarters,"  it  is  evident  that  the  methods 
of  design  and  construction  previously  known  in  Sicily  and  Southern 
Italy  still  continued  to  be  employed.  Thus  a  direct  introduction  of 
the  Norman  style  was  not  well  possible,  and  was  even  less  to  be  con- 
templated when,  after  the  capitulation  of  Palermo,  A.  D.  1072,  Roger 
transformed  a  number  of  mosques  into  churches.  The  well-known 
inclinations  of  his  son  and  successor,  Roger  II.,  who  favored  the 
Saracens  to  such  a  degree  that  he  was  himself  excommunicated  by 


ITALY.  33 ! 

the  pope,  were  not  without  effect  upon  the  architecture  of  this  age. 
The  ruins  of  the  palaces  Menani  and  Favara,  upon  the  west  and 
south-east  of  Palermo,  both  begun  in  1120,  distinctly  display  the 
influence  of  Moorish  models. 

The  earliest  ecclesiastical  edifices  of  Sicily  retained  the  Byzantine 
dome  and  arrangement  of  the  presbytery,  together  with  a  basilical 
body  of  the  church,  ranges  of  columns,  and  horizontal  ceiling.  This 
was  the  more  natural  as  the  Moors  had  previously  adopted  the  most 
important  of  these  features,  even  employing  the  fragments  of  an- 
cient buildings  in  the  same  manner  as  had  the  early  Christians.  The 
pointed  shape  appears  from  the  first  in  the  arches  of  arcades,  trans- 
verse ribs,  window-heads,  etc.,  making  it  plain  that  this  form  was 
not  derived  from  Normandy,  but  was  maintained  by  the  Northern 
conquerors  in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  Moorish  design.  If 
indeed  it  can  be  proved  that  pointed  arches  existed  in  France  be- 
fore the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century,  they  were  entirely  excep- 
tional, and  in  the  main  restricted  to  barrel-vaults.  They  are  cer- 
tainly not  to  be  found  in  the  chief  buildings  of  Caen  in  Normandy, 
at  least  in  those  parts  of  these  structures  which  are  referable  to 
about  the  year  1066.  Where  the  style  peculiar  to  the  Normans  is 
met  with  in  Sicily,  as  in  the  portals  ornamented  with  checkers, 
chevrons,  and  braided  patterns,  the  round  arch  is  alone  employed. 

The  style,  or  rather  the  combination  of  styles,  above  described 
seems  to  have  been  determined  in  its  main  features  at  the  time  of 
the  erection  of  the  Cathedral  of  Cefalu,  A.  D.  1131  to  1148.  The 
Capella  Palatina,  begun  in  1132,  shows  that  Arabian  influences  were 
predominant  in  Palermo.  Little  has  remained  of  the  older  Cathe- 
dral of  that  city,  which,  like  the  Capella  Palatina,  was  built  by 
Roger  II.  The  best  preserved  representative  of  the  Sicilian  archi- 
tecture of  this  age  is  the  Church  of  S.  Giovanni  degli  Eremiti, 
founded  in  1132,  a  domed  structure  of  Byzantine  and  Arabian  char- 
acter, with  but  few  Occidental  features  (Fig.  197).  S.  Maria  Dell' 
Ammiraglio  (La  Martorana)  was  entirely  Byzantine,  only  display- 
ing Moorish  and  Norman  elements  in  the  decorations  of  the  ex- 
terior. 

The  Moorish  tendencies  were  even  more  favored  by  William  I., 
the  builder  of  the  Zisa,  and  especially  by  William  II.,  during  whose 


332  ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

reign  was  erected  the  imposing  Cathedral  of  Palermo,  A.D.  1170  to 
1185,  the  original  appearance  of  which,  at  least  in  the  interior,  has 
unfortunately  been  entirely  changed  by  the  restoration  of  1652, 
and  by  that  carried  on  from  1781  until  1801.  The  Cathedral  of 
Monreale  (Figs.  198  and  199),  built  between  1173  and  1182,  com- 
pensates in  great  measure  for  this  loss.  Instead  of  having  been 
irreparably  injured,  like  the  Cathedral  of  Palermo,  this  jewel  of 
Sicilian  architecture  has  recovered  its  original  splendor  by  the  skil- 
ful restoration  made  between  1816 
and  1859.  The  forms  employed 
by  the  various  races  who  had  oc- 
cupied Lower  Italy  and  Sicily  af- 
ter the  early  Christian  period  were 
here  combined  to  a  harmonious 
system  which  may  directly  be 
termed  the  Sicilian  style,  this 
name  certainly  being  more  appli- 
cable than  the  common  appella- 
tion of  Norman.  The  basilical 
plan  in  its  Lombardic  transforma- 
tion, the  Byzantine  treatment  of 
the  walls,  especially  those  of  the 
choir,  the  Moorish  pointed  and 
surmounted  arches  intersecting 
upon  the  exterior  of  the  choir, 
and,  finally,  the  Norman  towers 
and  general  proportions,  are  in- 
deed to  be  distinguished,  but  in- 
stead of  making  the  effect  of  an 

unrelated  aggregate,  as  in  the  Capella  Palatina,  they  are  blended 
to  a  whole  of  perfect  unity.  With  an  extreme  wealth  of  orna- 
mentation is  combined  the  most  careful  and  loving  execution  of 
the  details,  which  are  designed  with  great  facility  and  elegance. 
The  Cloister  of  Monreale,  especially,  is  one  of  the  most  charm- 
ing creations  of  mediaeval  architecture.  A  preponderance  of  Nor- 
man elements  is  nowhere  evident,  and  it  is  entirely  misleading  to 
bring  this  style  into  connection  with  that  of  Normandy  and  of 


Fig.  197. — Plan  and  Section  of  S.  Giovanni 
degli  Eremiti  in  Palermo. 


ITALY. 


333 


England.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  not  possible  to  trace  any  direct 
influence  of  these  methods  of  construction  and  decoration  upon  the 
Gothic,  although  so  consequential  an  employment  of  the  pointed 
arch  is  indeed  remarkable  at  this  early  period.  The  Cathedral  of 
Monreale  is  the  best  possible  illustration  of  the  flourishing  condition 
of  Sicily  during  the  reign  of  William  II.,  who  renewed  the  golden 


Fig.  198.— Cathedral  of  Monreale. 
System  of  Interior  of  the  Nave. 


Fig.  199. —  Cathedral  of  Monreale.      System 
of  the  Exterior  of  the  Choir. 


age  which  the  island  had  enjoyed  in  the  tenth  century  under  Abul 
Hakem.  The  Palace  of  the  Kuba,  finished  about  the  year  1182,  in 
which  the  Moorish  elements  are  even  more  pronounced,  is  by  no 
means  so  well  preserved.  This  glorious  age  was  followed  by  a  rapid 
decline.  The  contentions  after  the  death  of  William  II.  so  entire- 
ly destroyed  the  prosperity  of  Sicily  that  even  the  beneficent  rule 
of  the  emperor  Frederick  II.  could  not  lead  to  its  recovery.  The 


334  ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE    ROMANIC    EPOCH. 

architectural  activity  of  the  last  Hohenstaufens,  moreover,  belongs 
to  another  phase  of  artistic  development. 

In  Southern  Italy  the  Normans  adopted  in  equal  measure  the 
methods  of  Byzantine  architecture  and  the  Lombardic  transforma- 
tion of  the  early  Christian  types.  In  the  eleventh  century  isolated 
instances  of  vaulting  are  met  with,  these,  without  doubt,  being  ref- 
erable to  the  influence  of  Southern  France.  In  S.  Maria  Immaculata 
at  Trani  the  nave  is  covered  by  three  Byzantine  domes,  and  the  side 
aisles  by  bisected  barrel-vaults ;  in  S.  Maria  Assunta  at  Altamura, 
while  the  galleries  are  treated  like  the  aisles  of  the  before -men- 


Fig.  200. — S.  Maria  del  Gradillo  in  Ravello. 

tioned  church,  the  nave  is  barrel-vaulted.  It  may  perhaps  be  as- 
sumed that  the  pointed  barrel-vaults  of  the  side  aisles  of  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Siponto  were  introduced  in  place  of  bisected  barrel -vaults. 
After  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century  Norman  and  Saracenic  ele- 
ments become  more  common,  but  still  do  not  predominate,  the 
architecture  of  Southern  Italy  not  attaining  to  the  individuality 
and  important  character  of  that  of  Sicily.  S.  Maria  del  Gradillo  in 
Ravello  (Fig.  200)  displays  the  combination  of  Byzantine,  Lom- 
bardic, and  Sicilian  forms,  which  is  also  to  be  observed  in  Amalfi, 
Salerno,  Gaeta,  etc.  A  pointed-arched  system  appears  both  in  the 
arcades  and  in  the  transverse  ribs  of  the  barrel-vaults  of  the  Church 


FRANCE.  335 

of  the  Benedictines,  S.  Nicolo  e  Cataldo,  at  Lecce,  as  early  as  1180. 
Stilted  and  pointed  arches  were  adopted  in  the  parts  of  the  Duomo 
Vecchio  at  Naples,  referable  to  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, and  in  the  Cathedral  of  Rapolla,  begun  in  1209.  The  Gothic 
style  was  first  adopted  under  the  rulers  of  the  house  of  Anjou,  but 
the  influence  of  the  Sicilian  style,  and  of  the  various  elements  of 
which  it  was  constituted,  long  continued  to  be  felt. 

FRANCE. 

The  unity  of  plan  and  architectural  forms  observable  throughout 
Germany,  notwithstanding  great  provincial  differences,  was  as  little 
to  be  found  at  this  period  in  France  as  in  Italy.  The  native  Celts 
and  Gauls  remained  predominant  only  in  the  west  of  France,  and 
so  many  and  so  different  foreign  elements  were  introduced  into  the 
other  districts  that  no  regular  and  settled  architectural  type  could 
there  be  developed.  A  marked  difference  was  evident  between  the 
art  of  the  southern  and  that  of  the  northern  coasts.  In  the  Pro- 
vence the  influence  of  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans  had  taken 
firm  root  and  flourished  for  nearly  a  thousand  years,  being  but  little 
disturbed  by  the  Visigoths.  In  Normandy,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
native  races  were  continually  driven  towards  the  west  by  invasions 
from  the  east  and  north,  and  Germanic  traditions  were  combined 
with  those  of  the  Celts,  which  had  been  but  slightly  tinged  by  the 
culture  of  distant  Rome.  The  provinces  of  the  interior,  situated 
between  these  two  extremes,  took  an  intermediate  position  in  artis- 
tic respects,  those  of  the  east  being  influenced  by  the  development 
peculiar  to  the  Rhenish  countries,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  those 
of  the  south-west  profited  little  by  their  neighborhood  to  Spain. 

The  greatest  architectural  activity  was  displayed,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  period  now  in  consideration,  in  Southern  France.* 
Even  in  the  more  remote  Rhenish  countries  the  presence  of  Roman 
remains  had  led  to  a  retention  of  the  classic  forms  and  constructive 
methods,  and  these  traditions  were  much  more  felt  in  the  countries 
of  the  Rhone — the  Provence,  Dauphine,  and  Languedoc  —  where 
there  are  still  preserved  a  greater  number  of  Roman  ruins  than  in 

*  H.  Revoil,  Architecture  Romane  du  Midi  de  la  France.     3  vols.     Paris,  1873. 


336  ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

any  part  of  Italy  itself,  with  the  exception  of  Rome  and  Pompeii. 
Thus  the  rise  of  ecclesiastical  architecture,  which  was  felt  through- 
out Christendom  at  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  century,  made 
itself  evident  in  Southern  France  rather  by  an  increased  number  of 
constructions  than  by  the  adoption  of  new  methods  of  design.  Con- 
centric edifices,  as  well  as  the  peculiar  barrel-vaulted  churches  with- 
out side  aisles,  had  been  common  before  this  epoch,  apparently 
having  been  developed,  even  in  the  early  Christian  epoch,  from  a 
combination  of  the  basilical  plan  with  the  constructive  methods 
pursued  in  imitation  of  the  Roman  ruins  of  the  Provence.  The  in- 
terior of  the  fine  temple  of  Nimes  might  have  directly  served  as  a 
model  for  the  barrel-vaulted  churches  customary  in  this  district  at 
the  beginning  of  the  Romanic  epoch.  Some  of  the  Roman  build- 
ings display  a  similar  memberment  of  the  vault  by  heavy  transverse 
ribs  supported  upon  pilasters,  and  are  provided  upon  the  exterior 
with  buttresses. 

It  is  not  possible  to  determine  the  exact  chronological  order  in 
which  the  remains  of  the  buildings  referable  to  this  period  are  to  be 
placed.  On  the  whole,  it  may  be  assumed  that  smaller  dimensions, 
simpler  proportions  and  memberment,  and  a  comparatively  exact 
imitation  of  classic  details  are  indications  of  greater  age,  while  the 
introduction  of  peculiarly  Romanic  features  in  place  of  Corinthian 
forms  is  characteristic  of  the  later  buildings.  It  is  to  be  remarked 
that  the  appearance  of  pointed  instead  of  round  barrel-vaults  can- 
not be  taken  as  a  proof  of  the  age  to  which  these  structures  are  to 
be  ascribed.  The  earlier  type  is  best  represented  by  the  Chapel  of 
St.  Thomas  at  Molleges  (Bouches  du  Rhone),  which,  although  cer- 
tainly one  of  the  most  ancient  of  these  memorials,  has  already  slight- 
ly-pointed barrel-vaults  (Fig.  201).  The  building  is  of  extreme  solid- 
ity and  simplicity.  The  side  walls  of  the  single  aisle  are  ornamented 
with  arcades  in  relief,  the  vault  is  provided  with  transverse  arches 
supported  upon  pilasters,  from  which  they  are  separated  by  a  plain 
impost  moulding  continued  as  a  cornice.  The  semicircular  apse 
immediately  adjoins  the  body  of  the  church,  which  is  lighted  by 
three  windows.  The  comparatively  low  gable  and  inclined  roof  are 
formed  by  a  kind  of  cement,  cast  in  a  solid  mass  upon  the  vault.  A 
discharging  arch  is  turned  above  the  lintel,  and  the  corners  of  the 


FRANCE. 


337 


1O  in 


building  are  strengthened  by  four  buttresses ;  otherwise  there  are 
no  architectural  members  upon  the  exterior. 

The  same  arrangement  of  plan  and  construction  appears  in  the 
majority  of  cases,  the  local  development  influencing  only  subordi- 
nate features.      Churches  of  larger  dimensions  were  rarely  of  the 
extreme  simplicity  of  the  before-mentioned  chapel,— St.  Quenin 
at  Vaison  being  exceptional,— and  there  are  still  fewer  instances  of 
the  entire   omission  of  the  pilasters  and  transverse  arches,— as  in 
the  church  of  Grandmont  (He- 
rault)  and  that   of  Six -Fours 
(Var),  both    of  which   are   ex- 
tremely bald   and    ugly.     Fre- 
quently  a   greater   elaboration 
was  attained  by  increasing  the 
number    of    the    pilasters,    as 
in    the   Chapel    of  St.  Gabriel 
near  Tarascon  (Fig.  202  a),  the 
Church  of  Saintes-Maries  (Bou- 
ches  du  Rhone),  and  the  Abbey 
Church    of    Montmajour    near 
Aries.      By  the  duplication   of 
these    rectangular   members    a 
greater  play  of  light  and  shade 
was  gained;    this  was   height- 
ened   in    effect    in    those    rare 
cases  where  engaged   columns 
took  the  place  of  the  pilaster, 
or  were  connected  with  it.     In- 
stances of  this  are  the  Church  of  St.  Peter  in  Reddes  (Herault), 
where  coupled  columns  support  richly-moulded  transverse  arches, 
and  that  of  St.  Martin  at  Londres,  in  which  the  classic  traditions 
are  less  evident,  its  trapeze-shaped  capitals  and  its  pilaster  strips 
and  corbel-tables  pointing  to  the  influence  of  the  East,  especially 
that  of  Northern  Italy  (Fig.  202  c}.     The  imitation  of  foreign  mod- 
els occasionally  led  to  the  introduction  of  cross-vaults,  correspond- 
ing to  the  pilasters,  in  place  of  the  single  barrel-vaults,  as  in  the 
Church  of  Le  Thor  (Vaucluse). 

22 


Fig.  201. — Plan  and  Section  of  the  Chapel  of 
St.  Thomas  at  Molleges. 


338 


ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


The  most  elaborate  treatment  was  devoted  to  the  apse.  The 
ornamentation  upon  the  exterior  is  usually  formed  by  Corinthian 
pilasters  with  horizontal  entablatures ;  that  upon  the  interior  by 
engaged  columns  and  blind  arches,  the  conch  being  divided  by  ra- 
dial ribs.  The  origin  of  this  system  is  without  doubt  older  than 
the  period  now  under  consideration,  it  having  been  introduced  into 


a.  St.  Gabriel  near  Tarascon.  b.  St.  Pierre-de-Reddes.  c.  St.  Martin-de-Londres. 

Fig.  202.— System  of  the  Side  Walls  of  the  Interior. 

the  apse  of  the  Church  of  St.  John  at  Moustier  (Aries),  which  is 
probably  referable  to  the  Carolingian  epoch  (Fig.  203).  The  details 
of  this  building  are  so  classic  that  it  might  be  ascribed  to  early 
Christian  ages  were  it  not  for  the  insufficient  entablature  of  the 
exterior  pilasters.  The  interior  of  the  apse  of  St.  Quenin  in  Vaison 
and  that  of  Saintes  Maries  (Bouches  du  Rhone)  are  of  somewhat 


FRANCE. 


339 


taller  proportions ;  in  other  churches,  such  as  that  of  St.  Ruf  near 
Avignon,  and  that  of  Cavaillon  (Vaucluse),  the  arcades  of  the  apse 
are  provided  with  window-like  apertures.  Still  others  display  more 
peculiarly  Romanic  forms :  a  kind  of  corbel-table  being  employed  in 
the  Church  of  St.  Peter  at  Maguelonne  (Herault),  while  the  details 
of  the  church  at  Le  Thor  are  characteristic  of  a  later  period.  The 
architectural  members  are  usually  imitated  from  Corinthian  forms, 
these  appearing  not  only  in  the  columns  and  pilasters,  but  in  the 
cornices  composed  of  egg  and  dart  mouldings,  of  modillions,  and  of 
Lesbian  cymas  carved  with  foliage. 

The  same  retention  of  classic  traditions  characterizes  the  portal, 


Fig.  203. — Exterior  View  and  Section  of  the  Apse  of  St.  Jean-de-Moustier. 

upon  which  was  concentrated  all  the  decoration  of  the  fa9ade.  An 
imitation  of  the  Roman  aedicula  long  continued  in  vogue,  the  en- 
tablature above  the  engaged  columns  being  abbreviated  and  the 
pitch  of  the  gable  greatly  increased.  Round  arches  were  intro- 
duced above  the  gable  or  beneath  the  entablature,  as,  for  instance, 
in  the  Church  of  St.  Gabriel  near  Tarascon,  in  Notre-Dame-des- 
Doms  at  Avignon,  and  the  Church  of  Le  Thor;  occasionally  the 
engaged  columns  are  themselves  connected  by*  arches.  These  un- 
certain attempts  of  the  earliest  period  gradually  resulted  in  the 
development  of  the  magnificent  types  of  the  twelfth  century,  such 
as  the  portal  of  the  Church  of  St.  Gilles  (Gard),  begun  in  1116,  or 


340  ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

that  of  St.  Trophime  in  Aries  (Fig.  204),  which  is  perhaps  refera- 
ble to  the  year  1154.  But  even  here  the  proportions  and  forms 
of  the  Corinthian  columns  were  retained  in  some  degree,  and  the 
classic  horizontality  of  the  entablature  was  emphasized  in  the  im- 
post of  the  arch.  In  like  manner  the  decorative  carvings,  both 
of  the  figures  and  of  the  ornaments,  were  still  influenced  by 
Roman  traditions. 


Fig.  204. — Portal  of  St.  Trophime  at  Aries. 

Although  in  the  first  period  of  the  Romanic  style  the  basilical 
plan  had  been  more  and  more  supplanted  by  that  of  the  one-aisled 
and  barrel-vaulted  cliurches,  it  was  never  entirely  relinquished.  In 
many  cases  the  requirements  of  an  extended  space  rendered  the  re- 
tention of  a  three-aisled  plan  necessary.  Such  structures  seem  to 
have  been  vaulted  from  the  first,  the  advantages  of  this  construe- 


FRANCE. 


341 


tion  having  become  too  plain  to  allow  the  introduction  of  horizon- 
tal ceilings  of  wood.  The  barrel  -  vaults  of  the  side  aisles  led  to 
various  attempts  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  construction,  the 
ultimate  success  of  which  resulted  in  the  greatest  development  of 
the  style. 

The  first  step  was  to  cover  the  low  side  aisles  with  comparative- 
ly small  barrel-vaults,  the  slightly  inclined  lean-to  roof  leaving  suffi- 
cient space  for  the  introduction  of  the  clerestory  windows  above 


a.  St.  Guillem-du-D^sert  (Herault).  6.  St.  Honorat.  upon  the  Island  of  L&ins. 

Fig.  205. — Sections  of  Three-aisled  Barrel-vaulted  Churches. 


them.  This  appears  in  the  Church  of  Guillem-du-D£sert  (Herault), 
which,  however,  seems  to  belong  to  a  comparatively  recent  period, 
if  we  may  judge  by  the  absence  of  classic  details,  and  the  preva- 
lence of  specifically  Romanic  features  in  the  portal,  capitals,  diago- 
nal dentils,  arched  corbel-tables,  etc., — the  dwarf  gallery  of  the  main 
apse  even  pointing  to  the  influences  of  Northern  Italy  (Fig.  205  a). 
A  more  particularly  national  character  is  evident  in  the  remains  of 
St.  Honorat  upon  the  Island  of  Lerins  (Var).  Unfortunately  it  is 
not  possible  to  determine  whether  both  divisions  of  the  church,  the 


342 


ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


one  with  round  arches,  the  other  with  pointed  vaults,  are  to  be 
ascribed  to  the  eleventh  century.  In  this  structure  the  basilical 
clerestory  is  given  up,  the  three  aisles  being  covered  by  one  roof. 
In  the  round-arched  part  of  the  building  (Fig.  205  b)  the  narrow  side 
aisles  are  covered  with  full  barrel-vaults,  while  in  the  pointed-arched 
division  bisected  barrel-vaults  appear  in  this  position  (Fig.  206  a). 
It  is  not  known  at  what  time  this  important  deviation  from  the  tra- 
ditional arrangement  of  the  vaults  was  first  made,  but  there  appears 


a.  St.  Honorat,  upon  the  Island  of  LeVins.  b.  Convent  Church  of  Vaison. 

Fig.  206. — Sections  of  Three-aisled  Barrel-vaulted  Churches. 


to  have  existed  between  the  varieties  exhibited  by  the  western 
and  eastern  portions  of  St.  Honorat  a  third  system,  exemplified  in 
the  Abbey  Church  of  Silvacanne  (Douches  du  Rhone),  in  which  the 
side  aisles  were  also  covered  with  pointed  barrel-vaults,  but  in  such 
a  manner  that  the  inner  arc  was  considerably  shorter  than  that 
rising  from  the  exterior  wall.  The  tentative  methods  of  this  last 
phase  of  development  are  even  more  strikingly  displayed  in  the 
Convent  Church  of  Vaison  (Vaucluse),  where  the  two-third  barrel- 
vaults  of  the  side  aisles  are  of  an  irregularly  curved  outline,  and  are 


FRANCE.  343 

placed  at  such  a  height  that  the  clerestory  windows  are  cut  directly 
through  the  vault  above  the  nave  (Fig.  206  b). 

The  lack  of  architectural  memberment  in  these  buildings  con- 
trasts most  unfavorably  with  the  regularity  of  the  vaulted  structures 
of  Germany.  Their  heavy  and  gloomy  character  is  not  sufficiently 
accounted  for  by  the  climate  of  Southern  France,  although  the 
bright  light  and  heat  of  the  south  made  the  coolness  of  spaces  en- 
closed by  massive  walls  and  vaults,  and  lighted  by  few  and  small 
windows,  appear  desirable.  These  considerations  would  not,  how- 
ever, have  interfered  with  a  more  organic  disposition  of  the  plan 
than  was  customary, — the  effect  of  both  the  interior  and  exterior  be- 
ing but  rarely  successful.  A  kind  of  transept  was  commonly  adopt- 
ed, even  in  the  one-aisled  plan,  by  the  addition  of  two  side  chapels 
next  to  the  main  apse,  but  this  was  not  brought  into  harmonious 
.relation  either  with  the  side  aisles  or  with  the  choir.  The  artistic 
inadequacy  of  such  an  arrangement  is  evident  in  the  plan  of  St. 
Guillem-du-D£sert  (He>ault),  in  which  the  designer  seems  to  have 
hesitated  between  a  transept  and  lateral  chapels,  and  was  unable  to 
effect  an  organic  combination  of  the  choir  with  the  body  of  the 
church  (Fig.  207).  The  transept  is  more  clearly  defined  in  the 
Abbey  Church  of  Thoronet  (Var),  and  in  that  of  Silvacanne  (Bouches 
du  Rhone),  in  the  eastern  wall  of  which  two  altar  niches  are  intro- 
duced, these,  however,  not  appearing  upon  the  exterior.  In  the  lat- 
ter church  the  semicircle  of  the  main  apse  is  replaced  by  a  straight- 
lined  termination  of  the  choir.  A  more  organic  arrangement  of  the 
presbytery  is  attained  in  Vaison  (Fig.  208)  by  giving  up  the  transept 
altogether,  and  by  terminating  the  side  aisles  with  lateral  .apses  ;  and 
in  the  Church  of  Gilles  (Gard),  which  is  similar  in  style  to  the  build- 
ings of  Auvergne  and  Burgundy,  by  continuing  the  aisles  around 
the  main  apse  in  the  shape  of  a  surrounding  passage  with  a  number 
of  radial  chapels.  The  disproportion  of  the  too  narrow  and  too  high 
side  aisles  remained,  and  in  those  cases  where  bisected  barrel-vaults 
were  introduced,  this  was  rendered  even  worse  by  the  sh'apeless- 
ness  of  the  ceilings.  Still,  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  the  principles 
of  important  innovations  are  recognizable  in  these  structures:  the 
bisected  barrel-vaults  alternately  leading  to  the  development  of  the 
flying  buttresses  of  the  Gothic  style,  and  of  the  pointed  barrel-vault 


344 


ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


above  the  nave,  which  had  perhaps  derived  its  form  from  the  one- 
sided  ceilings  of  the  aisles,  offering  some  similarity  to  the  multifold 
groined  and  pointed  vaults  of  the  later  period. 

In  several  cases  a  close  approach  had  been  made  to  a  regular 
system  of  buttresses.  Even  in  the  construction  of  the  apse  the 
principle  was  employed:  a  conch,  inclined  against  the  impost  of 
a  dome,  counteracting  the  thrust  in  precisely  the  same  manner  as 
does  a  flying  buttress.  The  cupolas  of  many  French  churches  were 
thus  surrounded  by  the  vaulted  ceilings  of  the  apses,  the  dome  not 


Fig.  207.— Plan  of  St.  Guillem-du- 
Desert. 


Fig.  208. — Plan  of  the  Convent  Church 
of  Vaison. 


only  adjoining  the  main  apse,  as  in  Notre- Dame- des-Doms  in 
Avignon,  and  the  Church  of  Cavaillon  (Vaucluse),  but  appearing 
above  a  concentric  plan  similar  to  that  customary  in  Byzantium. 
A  number  of  churches  resembling  the  Chapel  of  Montmajour  near 
Aries  display  a  central  dome  above  a  square  plan,  with  apses  upon 
three  or  four  sides.  At  times  this  construction  was  combined  with 
the  arrangement  of  the  nave  above  described,  as  for  instance  in  the 
Chapel  of  the  Holy  Trinity  upon  the  island  of  L£rins,  or  in  St..  Mar- 
tin at  Londres. 

This  was  an  attempt  to  solve  by  a  new  method  the  constructive 


FRANCE.  345 

difficulties  which  had  been  met  in  the  octagon  of  the  Minster  of 
Aix-la-Chapelle  by  inclining  the  imposts  of  the  barrel-vaults  which 
upon  a  lower  level  surround  the  dome  :  the  principle  of  the  buttress 
being  there  distinctly  pronounced,  although  the  difficulties  of  the 
thrust  were  not  overcome  in  an  organic  manner.  A  greater  resem- 
blance to  the  later  system  of  flying  buttresses  is  observable  in  the 
concentric  Church  of  Rieux-Merinville  (Aude),  the  fourteen -sided 
surrounding  passage  of  which  is  covered  by  bisected  cloister-vaults, 
leaning  against  the  seven -sided  central  dome.  Nevertheless,  this 
building  is  but  of  secondary  importance  in  the  history  of  the  devel- 
opment of  the  flying  buttress,  as  its  construction  cannot  with  cer- 
tainty be  referred  to  the  eleventh  century.  Indeed,  the  evidences  of 
a  regular  evolution  in  this  respect  are  not  precisely  to  be  deter- 
mined, and  it  is  even  possible  that  the  bisected  barrel-vaults  of  the 
side  aisles  may  have  resulted  from  constructive  considerations  not 
at  all  relating  to  the  support  of  the  dome. 

The  towers  of  the  churches  of  Southern  France  were  but  of 
subordinate  importance.  The  bells  were  placed  in  a  single  campa- 
nile, which  stood  either  on  the  western  front  of  the  nave,  as  at 
Notre-Dame  in  Avignon,  or  above  the  dome  before  the  apse,  as  in 
St.  Trophime  in  Aries,  or  even,  when  small  dimensions  rendered  this 
possible,  upon  the  barrel -vault  of  the  nave,  as  at  Silvacanne  and 
Beaucaire.  The  tower  is  added  to  one  side  of  the  church  in  Notre- 
Dame  d'Aubune  near  Carpentras,  and  rises  above  one  of  the  apses 
in  Notre-Dame  at  Vaison.  It  is  generally  of  square  plan  and  di- 
vided in  stories ;  at  times,  however,  the  rectangular  substructure  is 
transformed  into  a  cylinder  at  the  height  of  the  gable  of  the  faQade, 
as  is  the  case  with  the  finest  of  all  the  Romanic  towers  of  Southern 
France,  that  of  St.  Theodorit  in  Uzes  (Card),  in  which  six  stories, 
richly  decorated  with  engaged  columns,  rise  above  the  square  basis. 
The  design  of  the  campanile  in  the  cemetery  of  Puisalicon  evidently 
owes  its  peculiarities  to  foreign  influences,  either  Italian  or  German, 
as  do  also  the  pilaster  strips  and  the  arched  corbel -table  of  the 
tower  of  St.  Trophime  at  Aries,  the  upper  story  of  which,  with  its 
classic  details,  is  referable  to  the  eighteenth  century.  Octagonal 
forms  appear  occasionally  upon  the  towers  built  above  the  domes, 
as  in  the  Church  of  Bourg-Saint-Andeol  (Ardeche),  and  in  Notre- 


346 


ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE    ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


Dame-des-Alicamps  near  Aries,  which  remarkable  edifice,  with  its 
sixteen  open  arcades  ornamented  with  engaged  columns,  is  sur- 
mounted by  a  dome. 

Many  of  the  cloisters  adjoined  to  the  churches  of  the  South  of 
France  attained  a  higher  degree  of  development  in  this  period. 
There  are  numerous  examples  of  cloisters  supported  upon  piers, 
as  at  St.  Michel  in  Fricolet ;  or  upon  small  coupled  columns  which 
together  equal  the  thickness  of  the  wall,  as  in  St.  Sauveur  in  Aix ; 
or  an  alternation  of  columns  and  piers.  In  the  Cloister  of  St.  Tro- 
phime  in  Aries  the  piers  are  ornamented  upon  the  side  towards  the 
court  with  fluted  pilasters,  and  are  not  connected  by  discharging 
arches,  as  was  usual  in  most  cases,  the  groups  consisting  of  two 


Fig.  209. — Cloister  of  the  Convent  of  Vaison. 

apertures,  as  at  Thoronet  and  Grandmont,  or  three,  as  at  Vaison 
(Fig.  209),  at  St.  Paul  in  Remy,  and  Se"nanque,  or  of  four,  as  at 
Montmajour.  Apart  from  the  reminiscences  of  the  classic  archi- 
tecture formerly  prevalent  in  Southern  France,  it  is  evident  from 
the  details  that  the  artistic  relations  were  more  intimate  with  Lom- 
bardy  and  Liguria  than  with  Germany,  this  naturally  resulting  from 
the  geographical  position  of  th£  countries  of  the  Lower  Rhone.  It 
is  thus  impossible  to  determine  whether  certain  forms  were  first 
employed  in  the  Provence  or  in  Northern  Italy. 

The  architectural  features  hitherto  described  were  not  restricted 
to  the  provinces  of  the  Rhone,  but  were  employed  without  notewor- 
thy deviations,  although  less  exclusively,  throughout  the  districts  bor- 


FRANCE. 


347 


dering  the  coast,  as  far  as  the  Pyrenees.  A  greater  independence  is 
observable  in  Auvergne.  Bishop  Namatius,  A.  D.  446  to  462,  had 
founded  at  Clermont-Ferrand  (Arverni)  a  large  church  with  a  cruci- 
form termination,  which  was  extolled  by  Gregory  of  Tours.  Upon 
the  foundations  of  this  edifice  Bishop  Sigonius  erected  another 
church  in  the  second  half  of  the  ninth  century;  but  of  these  earlier 
structures  there  are  no  considerable  remains,  for  the  Church  of 
Notre-Dame-du-Port  cannot,  in  its  present  form,  be  ascribed  to  a 
date  more  remote  than  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century.  It  is 


Fig.  210. — Section  and  System  of  Notre-Dame-du-Port  in  Clermont. 

of  a  basilical  plan,  the  clerestory  wall  supported  upon  piers,  the 
nave  terminated  by  a  continuous  barrel-vault,  and  the  side  aisles  by 
a  bisected  form,  which  counteracts  the  thrust  of  the  main  vault. 
The  aisles  have  two  stories,  the  lower  being  covered  with  cross- 
vaults,  while  the  upper,  lighted  by  small  windows  in  the  side  walls 
of  the  building,  is  opened  to  the  nave  as  a  gallery,  with  three  aper- 
tures above  each  arcade  (Figs.  210  and  211). 

The  building  was  decidedly  in  advance  of  the  Provencal  models, 
the  independence  being  particularly  evident  in  the  cruciform  plan, 


348 


ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


which  had  not  appeared  in  the  districts  of  the  Rhone  during  the 
earlier  period,  there  having  previously  been  no  continuation  of  the 
nave  beyond  the  transept.  The  ingenious  methods  by  which  the 
constructive  difficulties  were  met  had  no  parallel  among  all  the 
churches  of  Southern  France.  The  dome  above  the  intersection  of 
the  transept  and  nave  was  supported,  as  was  the  ceiling  of  the  nave, 
by  bisected  barrel-vaults,  these  being  of  the  same  width  as  those  of 
the  side  aisles,  but  constructed  upon  a  much  higher  level,  so  as  to 
abut  against  the  impost  of  the  dome.  The  ends  of  the  transept 
were  covered  with  barrel-vaults,  the  axis  of  which  was  naturally  at 
right  angles  to  that  of  the  body  of  the  church.  The  pyramidal  com- 
position thus  attained  culminated  in  the  dome,  in  the  same  manner 


Fig.  211. — Plan  of  Notre-Dame  in  Clermont. 

as  did  the  vaults  of  the  galleries  in  the  great  arch  above  the  nave. 
This  arrangement  was  eminently  organic  and  successful :  the  outer 
and  lower  parts  supporting  the  higher  ones  within. 

The  nave  and  transept  were  insufficiently  membered  by  cornices 
and  imposts ;  the  barrel-vaults  were  without  ribs,  and  the  windows 
were  small ;  all  this  gave  to  the  interior  a  bald  and  gloomy  charac- 
ter, similar  to  that  of  the  churches  of  Southern  France.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  choir  became  more  varied  and  elegant  by  the  con- 
tinuation of  the  side  aisles  as  a  passage  around  the  apse,  the  conch 
of  which  was  supported  upon  columns.  The  design  of  pilasters 
and  arcades  in  relief,  on  the  exterior  of  the  apses  of  Southern 
France,  was  thus  reproduced  in  a  semicircle  of  real  columns,  open 


FRANCE.  349 

between  the  apse  and  the  surrounding  passage.  Four  smaller  niches 
were  added  to  the  curve  of  the  exterior  wall,  their  radial  axes  point- 
ing to  the  main  altar  in  the  central  apse.  This  was  of  excellent 
effect,  upon  the  exterior  as  well  as  in  the  interior,  the  eye  being  led 
from  the  four  outer  niches  to  the  somewhat  higher  passage,  from 
this  to  the  main  apse,  and  finally  to  the  dome.  It  is  not  known 
whether  these  improvements  were  here  employed  for  the  first  time, 
but  it  is  certain  that  for  centuries  they  were  of  decisive  influence 
upon  ecclesiastical  architecture. 

This  important  constructive  advance  was  combined  with  an  al- 
most purely  classic  decoration  of  great  richness,  at  least  upon  the 
exterior,  consisting  chiefly  of  Corinthian  columns  and  engaged  shafts, 
of  horizontal  entablatures,  console  cornices,  etc.  The  revetments  of 
the  walls  with  mosaics  and  slabs  of  colored  marble  were  similar  to 
those  of  the  early  Christian,  or  of  the  Carolingian  epoch.  The  cube- 
capital  and  arched  corbel-table,  which  had  been  employed  even  in 
Southern  France,  were  here  entirely  lacking,  and  the  Romanic  for- 
mation of  the  portal  was  not  attempted.  This  classic  influence  ex- 
tended even  to  a  slight  inclination  of  the  roof -surfaces,  which  was 
much  less  adapted  to  this  rough  and  mountainous  province  than  it 
had  been  to  the  Provence.  Everything  leads  to  the  supposition 
that  many  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  style  of  Auvergne  were  refer- 
able to  the  architecture  of  this  district  during  an  earlier  period,— 
very  possibly  to  the  church  built  by  the  bishop  Sigonius  in  the 
ninth  century. 

It  is  evident  from  the  frequent  occurrence  of  a  similar  plan  in 
the  mountain  districts  of  the  Puy  de  Dome,  Mont  d'Or,  Cezot,  Can- 
tal,  and  the  surrounding  country,  that  the  Church  of  Clermont  was 
not  an  isolated  instance,  but  should  be  considered  as  typical  of  the 
architectural  style  of  Auvergne.  At  Issoire  and  Orcival  the  design 
is  almost  identical ;  simplifications  of  the  form  appear  at  Volvic, 
Bourg-Lastie,  and  St.  Nectaire.  At  Conques,  south  of  the  Aubrac 
Mountains  which  form  the  boundary  of  Auvergne,  a  further  devel- 
opment is  met  with :  the  galleries  being  carried  around  the  entire 
church,  including  the  transept.  The  most  southern  example  of  the 
style  is  the  Church  of  St.  Sernin  at  Toulouse,  also  built  during  the 
eleventh  century,— a  five-aisled  structure  with  five  niches  adjoined 


350  ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

to  the  passage  surrounding  the  choir  and  with  four  chapels  in  the 
transept.  The  most  northern  is  the  Church  of  St.  Etienne  at  Ne- 
vers,  referable,  probably,  to  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century,  and 
even  ascribed  by  Viollet-le-Duc  to  an  earlier  age  than  the  Church 
of  Clermont. 

In  Burgundy  there  are  no  indications  of  a  definitely  pronounced 
type,  such  as  that  which  can  be  traced  in  the  Provence  and  the  ad- 
joining countries  from  the  first  beginnings  of  its  development.  The 
Burgundian  buildings  of  this  epoch  give  evidence  of  uncertain  at- 
tempts to  combine  the  most  various  architectural  motives.  The 
influence  of  Southern  France,  the  classic  traditions  derived  from 
ancient  ruins,  the  innovations  of  Normandy,  and  perhaps,  also,  the 
introduction  of  the  architectural  forms  of  Germany,  were  so  equally 
represented  as  to  make  it  impossible  to  recognize  any  peculiarly 
Burgundian  style. 

In  the  southern  parts  of  Burgundy  the  Proven9al  style,  derived 
from  Lyons,  prevailed  ;  in  the  western  districts  of  Bourbonnais  and 
Nivernais  the  plan  of  Auvergne  was  imitated :  in  both  the  ceilings 
of  the  churches  were  usually  barrel-vaults.  As  before  said,  it  is  pos- 
sible that  St.  Etienne  in  Nevers  was  built  even  before  the  Church 
of  Clermont.  The  apse  is  so  commonly  surrounded  by  a  passage 
with  radial  chapels,  that  some  authorities  have  even  been  led  to 
assume  this  important  feature  to  have  originated  in  Burgundy. 
The  number  of  Roman  ruins  existing  in  the  country  was  too  great 
for  the  classic  designs  to  be  entirely  relinquished,  the  forms  of 
the  ancient  edifices  appearing  particularly  in  buildings  erected  in 
their  immediate  vicinity  during  the  Middle  Ages.  Thus  the  gal- 
lery of  the  Cathedral  of  Autun,  begun  in  1132,  repeats  the  charac- 
teristic features  of  the  antique  Porte  D'Arroux.  The  decorative 
details  of  the  classic  monuments  were,  however,  more  generally  re- 
placed by  a  rude  and  independent  ornamentation  than  had  been  the 
case  in  Southern  France,  the  fantastic  carvings  of  the  capitals  and 
arches  resembling  the  Romanic  forms  of  Northern  lands.  Novel 
constructive  methods  were  occasionally  introduced  in  the  architect- 
ure of  Burgundy,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  Church  of  St.  Philibert  at 
Tournus,  probably  built  between  1007  and  1019,  where  heavy  cylin- 


FRANCE.  35! 

drical  shafts  without  capitals  support  not  only  the  arcades  but  sur- 
mounted transverse  arches,  upon  which  rest  barrel-vaults  with  their 
axes  at  right  angles  to  the  body  of  the  church. 

Important  structures  early  appear  in  the  north  of  Burgundy. 
Dijon  was  the  centre  of  a  notable  architectural  activity  at  the 
beginning  of  the  eleventh  century.  The  Church  of  St.  Benigne, 
founded  at  this  period  by  the  abbot  William,  is  renowned  as  hav- 
ing been  the  most  wonderful  edifice  in  Gaul  and  beautiful  beyond 
compare.  A  rotunda  of  columns  which  adjoined  the  choir  was 
preserved  as  late  as  the  beginning  of  the  present  century.  This 
concentric  addition,  and  the  cruciform  plan  of  the  basilica,  with 
two-storied  side  aisles,  point  to  the  influence  of  Lombardy,  and  this 
assumption  is  strengthened  by  the  mention  of  the  fact  that  the 
necessary  columns  were  brought  from  Italy.  The  abbot  William, 
a  son  of  Robert  of  Volpiano,  near  Ivrea,  had  himself  come  to  Dijon 
from  Italy,  together  with  St.  Majolus,  the  Abbot  of  Cluny. 

In  the  second  half  of  the  eleventh  century  Cluny  became  the 
most  important  among  all  the  monasteries  of  Occidental  Christen- 
dom. It  was  inhabited  by  no  less  than  three  thousand  monks.  In 
contrast  to  the  larger  Carolingian  convents,  which  comprised  several 
churches  and  chapels,  it  concentrated  its  architectural  energy  upon 
one  enormous  church,  which,  having  been  begun  in  1089,  required 
all  the  efforts  of  the  community  for  forty  years.  The  French  Revo- 
lution has  swept  away  this  celebrated  work,  but  from  the  plans 
and  descriptions  still  preserved  it  is  evident  that  the  five -aisled 
body  of  the  church  was  provided  with  two  transepts,  and  ter- 
minated by  a  semicircular  apse,  the  conch  of  which  was  supported 
upon  columns,  and  by  a  surrounding  passage  with  five  radial  chap- 
els (Fig.  212).  Eight  more  apses  were  added  upon  the  eastern  sides 
of  the  two  transepts,  the  smaller  of  which,  adjoining  the  choir,  was 
terminated  at  both  ends  by  semicircular  chapels.  The  nave  and  the 
outer  divisions  of  the  transepts  were  barrel-vaulted,  while  the  two 
inner  side  aisles  were  covered  below  with  cross-vaults  as  in  Cler- 
mont,  and  above,  probably,  with  bisected  barrel -vaults.  A  three- 
aisled  portico  added  44  m.  to  the  length  of  the  church,  making  a 
total  of  167  m.  Above  the  roofs  of  different  height  rose  seven 
towers, — one  over  the  intersection  of  the  nave  and  main  transept, 


352 


ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


two  before  the  portico,  as  many  before  the  front  wall  of  the  body 
of  the  church,  and  two  smaller  towers  on  the  corners  of  the  main 
transept. 

The  celebrity  of  the  Church  of  Cluny  was  in  great  measure  due 
to  the  pre-eminence  of  the  monastery ;  a  smaller  structure  in  Bur- 
gundy is  of  far  greater  importance  to  the  history  of  architecture. 
This  was  the  Abbey  Church  of  Vezelay  near  Avallon,  built  in  the 
first  years  of  the  twelfth  century.  In  it  the  barrel-vaults  were  re- 
placed by  cross-vaults,  and  these  were  constructed  upon  an  entirely 
new  principle,  at  a  time  when  the  antique  form  of  the  cross-vault 
was  still  exclusively  employed  in  Germany.  In  the  architecture  of 
the  Romans  the  intersecting  vaults  were  invariably  semi-cylindrical, 


o       io        o 
Fig.  212. — Plan  of  the  Abbey  Church  of  Cluny. 

and  consequently  could  only  be  erected  above  a  square  plan,  and 
with  crowns  of  equal  height.  The  diagonal  groins  thus  became  of 
an  elliptical  outline,  not  being  determined  in  the  design,  but  result- 
ing from  the  intersection  of  the  two  barrel-vaults,  and  consequently 
from  the  character  of  their  curves.  The  architect  of  Vezelay,  how- 
ever, treated  the  groin  not  as  a  result  but  as  a  constructive  starting- 
point,  turning  exactly  semicircular  arches  in  the  diagonals  and 
continuing  them  in  the  four  surfaces  of  the  vault  (Fig.  213).  The 
restriction  of  cross-vaults  to  square  compartments  was  thus  over- 
come, and  the  first  step  was  made  towards  the  Gothic  system  of  rib- 
bed vaulting.  A  further  development  appears  but  few  decades  later 
in  the  portico  of  Vezelay,  begun  in  1132,  pointed  arcades  and  trans- 


SWITZERLAND. 


353 


verse  arches  being  introduced  in  the  place  of  round  forms,  while  the 
vaults  were  constructed  according  to  the  principles  already  set  forth. 
It  is  a  mistake  to  consider  this  introduction  of  the  pointed  instead 
of  the  round  arch  as  an  innovation,  the  form  having  long  been  em- 
ployed in  the  pointed  barrel-vaults  of  Southern  France.  Neither 
pointed  arcades  nor  pointed  transverse  arches  were  of  great  con- 
structive importance  after  the  introduction  of  the  new  system  of 
cross-vaulting.  The  vault  of  pointed 
outline,  on  the  other  hand,  had  the  ad- 
vantage of  decreasing  the  thrust  in 
some  measure,  and  was  hence  early 
employed  in  Burgundy,  as  at  Autun, 
Beaune,  Sanlieu,  etc. 

The  civilization  of  Western  Switzer- 
land* was  closely  related  to  that  of  Bur- 
gundy. After  the  year  888  this  country 
had  even  formed  the  chief  part  of  the 
kingdom  of  Upper  Burgundy,  which  in 
the  beginning  of  the  tenth  century  ex- 
tended to  the  borders  of  the  Provence. 
These  relations  were  not  interrupted 
when,  early  in  the  eleventh  century, 
Western  Switzerland  was  detached  from 
Burgundy  and  united  to  Germany  by 
the  emperor  Henry  II.  In  ecclesias- 
tical respects  Switzerland  was  entirely 
dependent  upon  France,  the  Bishopric 
of  Lausanne  belonging  to  the  Archiepiscopal  See  of  Lyon,  later  of 
Besangon. 

Romainmotier,  in  the  Canton  of  Vaud,  after  919  in  the  posses- 
sion of  Cluny,  exhibits  in  its  church  the  influence  both  of  the 
Provence  and  of  Burgundy,  with  the  rudest  possible  details.  The 
enormous  columns,  entirely  without  ornamentation,  and  the  three- 
aisled,  two-storied  portico  resemble  the  Church  of  St.  Philibert  in 

*  R.  Rahn,  Geschichte  der  bildenden  Kunste  in  der  Schweiz.     Zurich,  1876. 

23 


r 


1m. 


Fig.  213. — System  of  Vezelay. 


354  ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

Tournus.  This  similarity  is  probably  explicable  by  the  contempo- 
raneous erection  of  the  two  buildings,  it  being  almost  certain  that 
the  older  parts  of  Romainmotier  were  constructed  by  the  abbot 
Odilo  of  Cluny,  A.  D.  994  to  1049.  Tne  Church  of  Payerne  (Peter- 
lingen),  near  Avanches,  after  962  also  a  dependency  of  Cluny,  dis- 
plays, on  the  other  hand,  a  barrel-vault  and  transverse  arches  sup- 
ported above  the  nave  upon  piers,  which  are  provided  in  the  main 
axis  of  the  plan  with  engaged  columns,  serving  as  the  impost  of  the 
arcades.  Above  the  side  aisles,  which  are  covered  with  cross-vaults, 
clerestory  windows  are  cut  through  the  barrel-vault  of  the  nave. 
In  determining  the  degree  of  resemblance  between  the  style  of 
these  buildings  and  that  of  Cluny,  we  must  not  compare  them  with 
the  Abbey  Church  of  the  latter  town,  destroyed  during  the  revolu- 
tion (Fig.  212),  this  not  having  been  erected  until  after  the  death  of 
the  abbot  Odilo,  but  rather  with  St.  Benigne  in  Dijon,  the  work  of 
the  abbot  William,  to  which  the  older  portions  of  Cluny  were,  with- 
out doubt,  closely  related.  In  fact,  the  architectural  details  of  the 
recently  exposed  crypt  of  St.  Benigne  are  strikingly  similar  to  those 
of  Romainmotier. 

The  architecture  of  Domdidier,  Bevaix,  Rueggisberg,  St.  Sulpice, 
and  other  places  of  Western  Switzerland,  was  dependent  upon  that 
of  Romainmotier  and  Payerne,  —  and  consequently  upon  that  of 
Dijon  and  Cluny.  The  remains  referable  to  the  earlier  period  of 
the  Romanic  style  are  extremely  rude  and  inartistic.  The  most 
remarkable  example  of  the  influence  of  the  French  style  in  Switzer- 
land is  the  Church  of  St.  John  in  Grandson  (Fig.  214).  Its  basilical 
plan,  with  ten  columns  separating  the  aisles  from  the  nave,  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  derived  from  the  Provence,  but  rather  from  the 
German  and  Alemannic  structures  of  the  Lower  Rhine  and  St.  Gall. 
The  barrel-vaults  and  the  bisected  forms  are  clearly  Provencal,  and 
the  formation  of  the  choir,  in  so  far  as  later  reconstructions  allow 
this  to  be  perceived,  shows  no  similarity  to  that  of  Burgundy. 
Although  probably  not  built  before  the  twelfth  century,  this  re- 
markable structure  proves  that,  notwithstanding  the  previous  polit- 
ical connection  of  this  country  with  Burgundy,  arid  its  hierarchical 
subordination  to  the  Burgundian  archbishopric  and  chief  convent, 
the  influence  of  Southern  France,  derived  from  Vienne  and  Lyon, 


FRANCE. 


355 


was  of  decisive  effect.  The  features  attributable  to  the  German  in- 
fluences display  none  of  the  perfection  of  the  Rhenish  details, 
and,  similarly,  the  buildings  of  Switzerland  erected  in  imitation  of 
the  French  styles  show  no  trace  of  the  constructive  ingenuity  of 
the  Burgundian  churches,  nor  of  the  fine  perception  of  form  which 
characterizes  Provengal  architecture. 

The  architecture  of  Western  France,  from  the  Pyrenees  to  the 
Loire,  was  also  influenced  by  that  of  the  countries  bordering  the 


Fig.  214. — Section  showing  the  Interior  of  the  Church  of  St.  John  in  Grandson. 

Mediterranean.  Barrel-vaults,  with  or  without  transverse  ribs,  piers 
ornamented  with  Corinthian  engaged  columns,  and  a  simple  plan  of 
the  apse,  were  customary.  As  had  been  the  case  in  the  southern 
and  south-eastern  districts,  the  pointed  barrel- vaults  were  early 
adopted  in  place  of  those  of  round  form,  this  change  being  effected 
about  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century,  as  is  evident  from  the 
remains  of  the  Convent  of  Moissac  on  the  Tarn,  near  Montauban. 
The  ornamentation  was  also  developed  from  classic  forms,  but,  in 
contrast  to  the  South,  grotesque  figures  and  the  masks  of  animals 
and  human  beings  were  frequently  introduced. 


356  ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

North  of  the  Garonne,  in  a  limited  tract  in  the  neighborhood  of 
P£rigueux,  we  meet  with  a  development  entirely  exceptional  in  the 
architectural  history  of  France  during  this  period,  namely  that  of 
the  domical  system  of  construction.  This  does  not  appear  to  have 
resulted  from  any  discontent  with  the  barrel-vaulted  compartments 
which  were  so  universal  in  Southern  France,  and  which  in  the  East- 
ern provinces,  especially  in  Vezelay,  had  led  to  the  development  of 
peculiar  forms  of  cross-vaulting.  We  have  rather  to  deal  with  the 
introduction  of  a  foreign  model,  the  influence  of  which  was  restrict- 
ed to  a  small  district.  The  Abbey  Church  of  St.  Front  in  P£rigueux 
(Fig.  215),  built  in  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century,  was  so  di- 
rectly copied  from  S.  Marco  in  Venice  that  even  the  differences  in 
their  dimensions  are  explicable  by  the  inequality  of  the  French 
and  Italian  linear  measures.  The  cruciform  plan,  with  the  transept 
of  the  same  length  as  the  nave,  is  divided  into  five  equal  com- 
partments covered  with  hemispherical  domes.  The  massive  cor- 
ner piers  of  the  main  intersection  are  perforated  by  arched  pas- 
sages, somewhat  narrower  than  those  of  the  Venetian  model ;  they 
support  broad  transverse  arches  which,  in  contrast  to  those  of 
S.  Marco,  are  of  a  low  pointed  form.  Even  these  alterations  are 
sufficient  to  give  an  entirely  different  character  to  the  edifice, 
and  the  dissimilarity  was  increased  by  the  omission  of  the  cupola 
windows,  the  consequent  multiplication  and  enlargement  of  those 
of  the  side  walls,  and  especially  by  the  want  of  the  fine  columns 
and  decorations  of  carvings  and  mosaics  to  which  the  effect  of 
the  Venetian  church  is  so  greatly  due.  The  enormous  pile  of  P£ri- 
gueux  thus  shared  the  gloomy  and  heavy  character  of  the  buildings 
of  Southern  France,  being  entirely  without  the  luxuriant  magnifi- 
cence of  the  Byzantine  decorations.  On  the  other  hand,  an  impos- 
ing tower  was  placed  above  the  western  entrance,  rising  in  many 
stories  of  engaged  columns,  and  presenting  an  imposing  contrast  to 
the  low  outlines  of  the  cupolas. 

This  domical  style  was  introduced  in  the  Cathedral  of  Cahors, 
the  Church  of  St.  Emilion  in  Bordeaux,  and  the  Cloister  of  Fon- 
teVrault  in  Anjou :  these  places  marking  the  farthest  extent  of  the 
domical  style  towards  the  south,  the  west,  and  the  north.  In  none  of 
these  churches,  however,  do  the  cupolas  appear  in  connection  with 


FRANCE. 


357 


a  cruciform  plan,— being  usually  placed  in  a  row  above  a  simple 
nave  without  side  aisles.  The  bald  and  heavy  piers  were  connect- 
ed  with  pointed  transverse  arches,  as  in  the  Church  of  St.  Front. 
The  choir  is  in  most  cases  covered  with  barrel-vaults  and  conches, 
and  the  apse  surrounded  by  radial  chapels.  In  the  Convent  Church 


Fig.  215. — Plan,  Longitudinal  Section,  and  View  of  St.  Front  in  Perigueux. 

of  Fontevrault  a  concentric  passage  with  columns  was  adopted,  in 
imitation  of  the  structures  of  Burgundy  and  Auvergne. 

The  greater  elaboration  of  the  last-named  church  seems  to  have 
been  due  to  the  influence  of  the  Cathedral  of  Angouleme,  in  which 
engaged  columns  were  added  to  the  piers,  and  the  arcades  and  cor- 


358  ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

nices  were  richly  ornamented.  The  magnificent  fagade  of  this  edi- 
fice leads  us  to  class  it  with  the  churches  of  Poitou,  in  which  a  most 
successful  artistic  treatment  of  the  outer  walls,  and  especially  the 
front,  was  combined  with  an  undeveloped  and  insignificant  plan. 
Chief  among  these  is  Notre-Dame  la  Grande  in  Poitiers,  the  fagade 
of  which  is  divided  into  several  stories  by  arcades  in  relief, — the  rich 
decorations  of  the  Romanic  portal  thus  being  extended  to  the  wall 
surface.  The  figural  sculptures  will  be  described  in  a  subsequent 
chapter.  The  luxurious  ornamentation  is  as  far  removed  from  the 
classic  details  of  Southern  France  as  from  the  linear  decorations  of 
the  Normans.  The  intertwined  foliage  and  the  distorted  figures 
of  animals  rather  appear  as  the  last  development  of  the  fantastic 
Celtic  patterns,  which  so  greatly  tended  to  an  overloaded  and  rest- 
less composition.  The  architectural  lines  are  still  predominant  in 
the  fagade  of  Notre-Dame  in  Poitiers,  the  images  of  Christ,  the 
Apostles,  and  other  saints  being  placed  in  parallel  niches.  In  the 
fagade  of  Angouleme  (Fig.  216),  on  the  other  hand,  the  member- 
ment  merely  serves  as  a  fantastic  and  inorganic  framework  for  a 
representation  of  the  Last  Judgment,  the  scene  of  which  is  divided 
into  entirely  disconnected  groups.  The  whimsical  and  extrava- 
gant character  which  the  art  of  the  North  had  derived  from  Celtic 
sources  is  particularly  evident  in  representations  of  animals.  The 
decorative  sculptures  of  the  Church  of  Ruffec  are  a  striking  in- 
stance of  this  fantastic  style.  Fagades  of  similar  magnificence 
appear  in  Ste.  Radegonde  at  Poitiers,  at  Civray,  Lusignan,  and 
elsewhere. 

The  cupolas  which  were  common  north  of  the  Garonne  were 
developed  in  the  valley  of  the  Loire  to  a  peculiar  form.  In  Fon- 
tevrault  the  dome  was  not  supported  upon  pendentives,  separated 
from  it  by  a  cornice,  according  to  the  Byzantine  method,  but  rested 
on  the  transverse  arches  intersecting  with  the  hemispherical  vault 
without  an  intervening  cornice.  It  is  difficult  to  say  what  influence 
may  have  been  exercised  upon  this  development  by  Lombardic 
models,  and  by  the  concentric  edifices  which  had  long  been  com- 
mon in  this  region.  In  some  cases  the  cupola  was  divided  by 
ribs,  which  were  placed  not  only  in  the  diagonal  but  in  the  axes  of 
the  plan,  the  dome  thus  approaching  in  appearance  to  a  Gothic 


FRANCE.  259 

vault  with  stellar  groins.  This  method  was  probably  derived  from 
the  similar  transformation  of  the  cross-vaults  begun  in  the  twelfth 
century.  It  led  to  the  treatment  of  the  surfaces  between  the  ribs 
as  separate  compartments,  like  those  between  the  diagonals  of  the 


cross-vaults  at  Vezelay.  These  systems  did  not,  however,  attain  to 
a  higher  degree  of  perfection,  for  the  Gothic  style,  which  in  the 
mean  time  had  made  its  appearance,  absorbed  the  attention  and  the 
constructive  ingenuity  of  the  builders. 


360  ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

While,  in  the  South  of  France,  classical  traditions  had  contin- 
ued with  but  few  changes,  although  with  certain  local  variations, 
in  the  East  influences  of  the  Rhenish  countries  had  made  them- 
selves felt,  and  in  the  West  Celtic  reminiscences  had  given  a  pe- 
culiar stamp  to  the  architectural  style,  the  North  of  France  was 
chiefly  affected  by  Northern  Germanic  elements.  Even  in  the  Me- 
rovingian epoch  the  classic  methods  of  building  had  fallen  so  en- 
tirely into  disuse  that  the  models  for  the  chief  convents  built  under 
the  Carolingians  had  to  be  brought  from  abroad.  The  last  traces 
of  Roman,  architecture  were  swept  away  by  the  Normans,  who,  after 
many  incursions,  at  last  established  themselves  so  firmly  in  Northern 
France  that  their  leader,  Rollo,  in  the  year  912,  received,  together 
with  the  hand  of  the  daughter  of  Charles  the  Simple,  the  fief  of 
Normandy.* 

The  Normans  did  not  at  first  exercise  an  important  influence 
upon  the  civilization  of  France.  Like  the  Goths,  to  whom  they 
were  related,  they  were  an  adventurous  and  warlike  race,  contin- 
ually engaged  with  freebooting  expeditions,  and  consequently  with- 
out a  settled  art  of  their  own.  They  introduced  once  more  into 
France  the  energetic  spirit  of  the  North,  at  a  time  when  the  Ger- 
manic peculiarities  had  been  in  great  measure  lost  through  the  in- 
tercourse with  Romanic  races  and  the  adoption  of  the  Christian 
faith.  They  sounded  a  high  and  vigorous  note,  which  was  well  in 
accord  with  the  battle-cry  and  the  rattle  of  arms,  but  which  seemed 
to  be  too  shrill  and  unharmonious  for  the  cloistered  refinement  of 
French  civilization.  It  required  a  century  of  Christian  culture  for 
these  invaders  to  arrive  at  even  that  degree  of  perfection  in  the  arts 
to  which  North-western  Europe  had  attained  under  Charlemagne. 
They  brought  with  them  the  patterns  of  straight  lines  which  they 
had  employed  in  the  earliest  ages  in  the  ornamentation  of  their  huts 
and  vessels,  as  well  as  methods  of  metal-working  used  in  the  manu- 
facture of  their  arms  and  utensils;  but  it  required  a  considerable 
time  for  them  to  advance  beyond  their  native  timbered  construc- 


*  J.  Britton  and  A.  Pugin,  Specimens  of  the  Architecture  of  Normandy.  New  edition. 
London,  1874.— V.  Ruprich  Robert,  L'Architecture  Normande  aux  XI.  et  XII.  Siecles  en 
Normandie  et  en  Angleterre.  Paris,  1884.  (Incomplete.) 


FRANCE.  361 

tions,  so  as  to  introduce  these  elements  into  monumental  architect- 
ure,— notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  development  of  their  deco- 
rative style  was  more  rapid  than  had  been  the  case  with  the  inor- 
ganic braided  work  of  the  Celts. 

The  great  endeavors  of  the  first  rulers  of  the  new  duchy  to  make 
their  province  equal  with  the  other  fiefs  of  the  Carolingian  emperors, 
and  their  enthusiastic  and  self-sacrificing  submission  to  the  Church, 
did  not  immediately  result  in  an  advance  of  art.  The  early  buildings 
of  the  Normans,  mostly  of  wood,  were  for  a  century  far  inferior  to 
the  vaulted  constructions  of  the  South,  and  even  to  the  convents 
which  had  been  erected  by  the  previous  inhabitants  of  Normandy. 
When,  at  last,  some  attempt  was  made  to  further  monumental  ar- 


a  Etretat.  b  Ecrainville. 

Fig.  217. — Norman  Capitals. 


c  Pont-Audemer. 


chitecture  it  was  necessary  to  call  designers  from  the  South.  One 
of  these  was  the  before-mentioned  William,  abbot  of  St.  Benigne  in 
Dijon,  a  Lombard,  who  was  invited  to  Normandy  by  the  duke  Rich- 
ard II.  in  1010,  and,  during  the  twenty  years  following,  there  erected 
nearly  forty  convents  and  churches.  The  Carolingian  traditions  of 
the  country  were  thus,  without  doubt,  influenced  by  those  of  Bur- 
gundy and  Lombardy,  but  too  little  has  remained  to  enable  us  to 
judge  with  certainty  of  the  extent  and  the  success  of  this  combina- 
tion. The  Church  of  Lery  near  Pont  de  1'Arche  displays  a  basilical 
range  of  columns  of  even  heavier  proportions  than  those  of  the 
Abbey  Church  of  Tournus  in  Burgundy,  erected  by  the  same 
William,  while  the  nave  is  covered  by  a  barrel-vault  without  trans- 
verse ribs,  like  those  of  Southern  France. 


362 


ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE    ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


Basilicas  with  horizontal  ceilings  seem  at  first  to  have  been  uni- 
versal, the  columns,  piers,  and  the  ornamental  patterns  differing, 
however,  from  those  of  the  basilicas  built  in  imitation  of  classic 
models,  and  from  those  of  the  buildings  of  Saxony  and  the  Rhen- 
ish countries.  The  columns,  equal  in  diameter  to  the  thick  walls, 
are  short  and  heavy ;  thus  the  projection  of  the  capital  was  not 
of  importance,  while  the  bases  were  insignificant  or  altogether  lack- 
ing. These  characteristics  appear  in  the  horizontally  ceiled  basili- 
cas of  Ecrainville  (Fig.  218)  and  Etretat,  both  in  the  Department  of 


«        i         a. 3          m. 
Fig.  218.— System  of  the  Church 
of  Ecrainville. 


Fig.  219. — System  of  St.  Germain  at 
Pont-Audemer. 


Seine-Inferieure.  The  forms  of  the  low  capitals  (Fig.  217)  are  either 
rude  imitations  of  Corinthian  models,  roughly  decorated  with  fig- 
ures, or  ribbed,— those  of  the  first  class  resembling,  in  their  helpless 
misunderstanding  of  the  antique  patterns,  the  cornices  of  the  Mau- 
soleum of  Theodoric  at  Ravenna,  those  of  the  second  being  abso- 
lutely barbarous.  The  arches  are  commonly  decorated  with  chev- 
rons, which  continued  the  favorite  pattern  of  the  Norman  architects. 
When  the  columns  were  replaced  by  piers  these  latter  were  often 
strengthened  in  the  main  axis  by  engaged  shafts,  as  in  the  Church 
of  St.  Germain  at  Pont-Audemer,  in  the  Department  of  Eure 


FRANCE.  353 

(Fig.  219).  A  similar  construction  of  piers  was  employed  in  the  Ab- 
bey Church  at  Berney,  the  nave  of  which  was  originally  covered 
with  a  horizontal  ceiling,  while  the  side  aisles  were  vaulted  in  imita- 
tion of  the  buildings  of  Western  France. 

These  churches  resemble,  in  the  simplicity  of  their  arrangement 
and  the  bareness  of  their  walls,  the  buildings  of  the  earliest  period 
of  the  Romanic  style  throughout  Europe.  The  Church  of  Briquebec 
(Manche),  however,  although  also  covered  with  a  horizontal  ceiling, 
exhibits  a  more  elaborate  memberment  of  the  piers  by  engaged 
columns,  those  adjoining  the  side  of  the  supports  towards  the  nave 
being  continued  to  the  top  of  the  clerestory  wall.  An  alternation  of 
piers  and  columns  combining  two  arcades  to  form  a  system  appears 
in  the  Abbey  Church  of  Jumieges,  in  the  Department  of  Seine-In- 
ferieure,  consecrated  in  1067  (Fig.  220).  It  cannot  be  definitely 
proved  that  these  developments  resulted  from  the  influence  of 
Lombardy,  first  introduced  by  the  abbot  William  of  Dijon ;  still 
this  is  made  probable  by  the  fact  that  the  forms  of  the  capitals, 
the  galleries,  and  engaged  shafts  continued  to  the  ceiling  without 
function  as  supports  of  a  vault,  seem  rather  to  have  been  derived 
from  Northern  Italian  than  from  Rhenish  models.  German  ele- 
ments, indeed,  seldom  appear,  while  those  of  the  South  of  France, — 
such  as  the  arcades  in  relief  upon  the  exterior  of  the  apse, — were 
frequently  adopted.  Arched  corbel -tables  were  rare,  that  of  the 
extremely  primitive  Church  of  Than  near  Caen  being  exceptional ; 
the  main  cornice  was  generally  composed  of  sculptured  consoles 
and  terminated  by  a  simple  horizontal  moulding.  With  this  excep- 
tion the  exterior  walls  had  in  the  earliest  period  no  other  member- 
ment than  simple  pilaster  strips.  The  fagades  alone  were  more 
richly  treated.  The  portals  were  similar  to  those  of  Germany,  the 
decorations  being  either  formed  of  geometrical  patterns  or  of  rows 
of  rudely  sculptured  human  heads.  The  upper  part  of  the  front 
wall  was  occasionally  ornamented  with  arcades  and  chevron  mould- 
ings, or  with  blind  galleries,  corresponding  to  the  triforium  of  the 
interior.  The  towers,  which  were  placed  above  the  intersection  of 
the  nave  and  transept,  or  at  one  side  of  the  body  of  the  church, 
were  similar  in  treatment  to  the  fagades. 

The  lowlands  of  Normandy,  especially  the  Departments  of  Eure 


364 


ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE    ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


and  Seine  -Inferieure,  not  being  provided  with  stone  suitable  for 
vaulted  constructions,  long  retained  the  horizontal  ceilings  of  wood. 
But  even  where  there  was  no  lack  of  the  requisite  materials,  the  nave 
was  occasionally  covered  with  a  horizontal  ceiling,  and,  moreover,  at 
a  comparatively  late  period,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  Abbey  Church  of 
Mont-Saint-Michel  (Manche),  the  side  aisles  of  which  have  pointed 
vaults  (Fig.  221).  In  the  most  important  district  of  Normandy,  the 
Department  of  Calvados, — including  Caen,  the  Norman  metropolis,— 


Fig.  220. — System  of  the  Abbey 
Church  of  Jumieges. 


Fig.  221. — System  of  the 
Abbey  Church  of  Mont- 
Saint-Michel. 


Fig.  222. — System  of  the 
Church  of  St.  Georges 
at  Boscherville. 


vaulted  constructions  were  successfully  employed  before  the  end 
of  the  eleventh  century,  an  independent  treatment  of  the  cross- 
vault  early  appearing.  This  differed  as  greatly  from  the  simple  Ro- 
man form  customary  in  Germany  as  from  the  Burgundian  vaults 
of  Vezelay.  It  is  not  certainly  known  whether  the  vaults  of  St. 
Georges  in  Boscherville  (Fig.  222)  are  referable  to  the  original  con- 
struction of  Radolf,  the  chancellor  of  William  the  Conqueror,  or 
are  as  late  as  the  twelfth  century.  Nor  is  it  to  be  determined 
whether  the  Church  of  St.  Nicolas  in  Caen,  which  exhibits  a  similar 


FRANCE.  365 

system,  was  erected  before  or  after  the  Church  of  Boscherville. 
More  accurate  information  is  at  hand  concerning  the  two  chief 
buildings  of  Normandy  dating  to  this  period:  the  Church  of  the 
Holy  Trinity  (Abbaye  aux  Dames)  and  that  of  St.  Etienne  (Abbaye 
aux  Hommes)  in  Caen.  Both  these  churches  were  founded,  in  the 
year  of  the  conquest  of  England,  by  Duke  William  and  his  wife 
Matilda,  in  expiation  of  their  marriage  of  a  forbidden  degree  of  re- 
lationship. Ste.  Trinite  (Fig.  223),  the  smaller  of  the  two,  was  prob- 


Fig.  223. — System  of  Ste.  Trinite  in  Caen.       Fig.  224. — System  of  St.  Etienne  in  Caen. 

ably  the  first  completed.  It  displays  above  the  main  arches  an 
arcade  in  relief,  and,  higher  than  this,  the  triforium,  so  connected 
with  the  clerestory  windows  that  the  grouping  of  two  arches  in  a 
single  compartment,  which  had  not  been  contemplated  in  the  plan 
of  the  piers,  was  rendered  possible.  The  vault  itself  is  divided  into 
six  panels  by  a  transverse  arch  springing  from  the  intermediate  pier, 
its  summit  rising  to  the  intersection  of  the  diagonal  ribs. 

This    peculiar    construction    is    still    further   developed    in    St. 
Etienne   (Fig.  224),  an   imposing   building,  the   nave   of  which   is 


366  ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

65  m.  long.  From  the  alternation  of  the  piers  it  is  evident  that 
the  combination  of  two  arcades  into  a  single  compartment  was  de- 
termined upon  in  the  original  design.  Through  the  introduction 
of  a  gallery,  the  arcades  of  which  are  almost  as  tall  as  those  of  the 
lower  story,  the  clerestory  windows  were  crowded  to  so  great  a 
height  that  the  architect  was  unable  to  begin  his  main  vaults,  as  in 
Ste.  Trinit^,  on  a  level  with  the  capitals  of  the  triforium.  The  im- 
post of  the  transverse  arches  was  consequently  placed  directly  above 
the  galleries,  this  arrangement  having  the  advantage  of  permitting 
the  upper  vaults  of  the  side  aisles  to  serve  as  buttresses.  The  clere- 
story windows  were  thus  much  cramped,  and  this  drawback  could 
not  be  entirely  overcome  by  the  employment  of  the  transverse  ribs 
rising  from  the  intermediate  piers,  as  an  integral  part  of  the  vaulted 
construction,  although  the  summit  of  the  wall  arches  thus  attained 
a  much  greater  height.  The  disadvantageous  position  of  the  win- 
dows was  but  of  slight  account  compared  with  the  bold  and  im- 
portant innovation  in  the  system  of  vaulting.  Unfortunately  it  is 
not  possible  to  determine  how  long  after  the  foundation  of  the 
church  the  stone  ceilings  were  executed.  On  the  whole,  the  Nor- 
man buildings  of  this  class  compare  favorably  with  the  vaulted  con- 
structions of  Burgundy  and  the  Rhenish  countries,  by  both  of  which 
they  must  have  been  influenced  in  some  measure ;  still,  they  did 
not  equal  the  technical  exactness  of  the  former,  or  the  rhythmical 
arrangement  of  the  latter  works. 

The  before-mentioned  buildings  of  Caen  represent  the  greatest 
advance  of  the  Romanic  style  in  Normandy.  In  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury the  constructive  framework  was  hidden  beneath  a  luxuriant 
decoration,  which  was  the  more  objectionable  as  its  patterns  con- 
sisted solely  of  straight-lined  geometrical  forms,  and  gave  but  little 
scope  to  the  imagination  of  the  designer.  This  is  the  case  with  the 
Romanic  portions  of  the  Cathedrals  of  Bayeux  and  Evreux,  St.  Ju- 
lien  near  Rouen,  the  Church  of  Savigny,  etc.  It  is  plain  that  the 
centre  of  the  artistic  activity  of  the  Normans  was  no  longer  in 
Normandy  itself  but  in  their  English  kingdom, — their  former  home 
becoming  a  mere  province,  dependent  in  many  respects  upon  Eng- 
land. The  Norman  architecture  of  succeeding  ages  is  hence  to  be 
reserved  for  consideration  in  connection  with  that  of  Great  Britain. 


FRANCE.  367 

In  striking  contrast  to  the  successful  artistic  efforts  of  this  last 
race  to  be  incorporated  into  the  French  nation,  architecture  remained 
almost  entirely  undeveloped  in  the  He  de  France  and  Champagne, — 
provinces  which  in  earlier  ages  had  taken  the  most  prominent  part 
in  the  history  of  Gaul.  Even  Paris,  a  place  of  great  importance 
under  the  Merovingians  (compare  page  209),  has  few  memorials  of 
independent  interest  referable  to  the  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries. 
Neither  the  reconstruction  of  St.  Germain-des-Pres,  before  the  year 
1014,  nor  that  of  Ste.  Genevieve,  after  1068,  displayed  any  advance 
beyond  the  style  customary  in  the  Merovingian  and  Carolingian  pe- 
riods. The  obliteration  of  almost  all  the  works  of  this  epoch  by 
subsequent  Gothic  constructions  makes  it  difficult  to  gauge  the 
artistic  advance,  but  the  entire  silence  of  contemporary  writers  does 
not  lead  to  the  assumption  of  any  notable  performance.  The  few 
churches  of  Champagne  which  have  been  preserved  are  of  modest 
dimensions  and  exhibit  the  influence  of  the  South.  A  pointed  bar- 
rel-vault appears  in  St.  Savinien  near  Sens  ;  the  passage  surrounding 
the  apse  with  radial  chapels,  customary  in  Burgundy  and  Auvergne, 
is  adopted  in  the  plan  of  the  Church  of  Vignory  near  Andelot. 
The  transverse  barrel -vaults  of  the  side  aisles  of  St.  Remy  near 
Rheims,  A.D.  1036  to  1049,  point  to  the  traditions  of  Burgundy  and 
especially  of  Tournus,  while  the  remainder  of  this  enormous  basilica 
with  two-storied  side  aisles  shows  reminiscences  of  the  Carolingian 
age.*  German  influences  were  felt  as  far  as  Chalons-sur-Marne,  as 
is  proved  by  the  Church  of  St.  John  in  that  place. 

It  is  indeed  strange,  in  view  of  the  great  artistic  activity  in  the 
more  remote  provinces  of  France,  that  the  works  of  architecture  in 
its  centre  remained  so  unimportant  until  the  middle  of  the  twelfth 
century.  The  absence  of  this  development  in  the  intervening  tract 
made  it  possible  for  the  styles  of  the  North  and  the  South  to  di- 
verge even  more  than  can  be  accounted  for  by  their  geographical 
and  climatic  conditions.  As  Schnaase  has  remarked,  the  antique 
traditions  appeared  during  this  epoch  more  exclusively  in  the  art  of 
the  Provence  than  in  that  of  Italy  itself,  while  the  ornamentations 
of  the  Normans  were  even  more  entirely  composed  of  Northern 

*  Viollet-le-Duc,  Dictionnaire  de  1'Architecture  Frai^aise,  IX.,  p.  240. 


368  ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE    ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

elements  than  those  of  Germany.  In  the  German  Empire  the  cen- 
tralization of  culture  was  much  more  marked  than  in  France,  and 
the  architecture  of  the  former  country  was  hence  of  a  more  uniform 

character. 

SPAIN. 

The  Christian  architecture  of  the  Iberian  peninsula*  could  be 
affected  in  its  development  by  no  other  European  influences  than 
those  of  South-western  France.  The  difficulties  which  the  Pyrenees 
presented  to  the  communication  by  land  were  in  great  measure 
overcome  by  the  passes,  especially  those  at  either  end  of  this  range  ; 
but  the  marine  intercourse  with  the  more  remote  coasts  of  France 
and  Italy  was  disturbed  during  this  period, — in  the  Mediterranean 
by  the  Saracens,  and  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay  by  the  Normans. 

Spain,  like  Southern  France,  long  retained  the  traditions  of  a  civ- 
ilization antedating  the  Christian  epoch.  Especially  in  the  South, 
which  had  been  a  province  of  Carthage,  some  reminiscences  of  the 
Phoenician  style  were  retained  throughout  the  Roman  domination, 
and  were  not  entirely  obliterated  even  by  the  occupation  of  the 
Visigoths,  A.D.  417  to  717.  The  few  fragments  of  stone  sculpture 
remaining  from  this  period  resemble  the  Byzantine  ornaments  of 
Syria  in  a  certain  sharpness  peculiar  to  all  imitations  of  empaistic 
works.  The  similarity  of  the  early  Christian  buildings  of  Spain  to 
those  of  Southern  France  is  rather  due  to  the  influence  of  the  same 
Roman  elements  than  to  any  introduction  of  these  traditions  from 
France,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
Pyrenees  a  like  development  naturally  resulted  from  the  political 
union  of  some  districts  north  of  the  range  with  Spain.  After  the 
conquest  by  the  Moors  the  civilization  of  Spain  was  sharply  divided 
into  two  branches.  The  one  produced  the  Mohammedan  style  of 
the  South,  divisible  into  two  chief  periods,  and  described  above  as 
that  of  Cordova  and  that  of  Seville  and  Granada,  corresponding 
approximately  to  the  Romanic  and  Gothic  epochs.  The  other  ap- 
peared in  the  Christian  lands  of  the  North  and  in  those  provinces 

*  G.  E.  Street,  Some  Account  of  Gothic  Architecture  in  Spain.  London,  1865. — Monu- 
mentos  Arquitectonicos  de  Espafta.  Publicados  de  Rl.  Orden  y  per  disposicion  del  Minis- 
terio  de  Fomento.  Madrid,  1859-1884.  Unvollendet. 


SPAIN. 

which  had  been  recovered  from  the  Moors,  and  shared  the  general 
development  of  the  Romanic  style  in  the  rest  of  Europe.  Differing 
in  this  respect  from  the  Normans  in  Sicily,  the  Spanish  Christians 
adopted  but  few  features  from  their  more  artistic  Moslem  ene- 
mies, while  the  Arabs  remained  entirely  unaffected  by  this  phase 
of  Christian  art. 

The  political  state  of  Northern  Spain  at  this  time  was  not  such 
as  to  further  an  independent  and  systematic  architectural  activity 
like  that  of  France  or  Germany.  The  devastation  and  impoverish- 
ment of  the  comparatively  barren  region  which  had  remained  to 


I     i    •]•    a     4     I  an 

Fig.  225. — Plan  and  System  o?"S.  Adrian  in  Tufion. 

the  Christians  precluded  all  those  more  extensive  constructions  by 
which  alone  a  monumental  style  can  be  developed.  The  most 
pressing  necessities  were  met  as  best  might  be,  without  construct- 
ive innovations  or  artistic  endeavors  of  any  kind.  The  few  build- 
ings, or  parts  of  buildings,  of  which  the  date  is  accurately  known, 
— such  as  the  crypt  of  S.  Cruz  in  Cangas  in  Asturias,  A.  D.  739, 
the  Church  of  Santiannes  de  Pravia,  A.  D.  776,  and  the  crypt  of 
the  Camara  Santa  at  Oviedo,  A.D.  842,— are  extremely  rude,  and 
mostly  have  small  barrel -vaults  or  horizontal  ceilings  supported 
upon  piers,  all  of  the  greatest  possible  simplicity.  Similar  features 

24 


370 


ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


are  displayed  in  the  Church  of  S.  Adrian   in  Tuflon  in  Asturias 

(Fig,  22$),  the  age  of 
which  is  less  certain- 
ly known.  The  plan 
was  generally  a  sim- 
ple rectangle,  without 
apses,  the  three  aisles 
of  the  early  Christian 
basilica  being  at  times 
exchanged  for  the  cru- 
ciform arrangement  of 
Byzantine  edifices. 

If  the  identification 
of  certain  remains  in 
Asturias,  Galicia,  and 
Leon  by  Spanish  ar- 
chaeologists   may    be 
trusted,  it  would  ap- 
pear   that    some    at- 
tempts    to     develop 
a    more    independent 
style,     especially      in 
the  decorative  details, 
were  made  under  the 
energetic  kings  Rami- 
ro  I.,  A.D.  843  to  850, 
and  Alfonso  III.,  A.D. 
866  to  910.      Among 
the  memorials  of  these 
rulers    may    be    men- 
tioned the  Church  of 
S.  Miguel  of  Linio  in 
Asturias,  of  Byzantine 
cruciform    plan,   with 
barrel -vaults,  the  col- 
umns   of    which    are 
provided  with  bases  of  barbarous  design,  and  display  no  trace  of 


Fig.  226. — Plan  and  Interior  of  S.  Cristina  in  Lena. 


SPAIN. 


371 


the  Corinthian  forms ;  also  the  Ermita  de  S.  Cristina  of  Lena  in 
Asturias  (Fig.  226),  the  appearance  of  which  has,  however,  been 
much  altered  by  the  introduction  of  a  timbered  ceiling  in  place  of 
the  original  barrel-vault.  A  somewhat  higher  development  is  no- 
ticeable in  S.  Pedro  at  Nave  in  Leon,  where  the  barrel-vaults  are  of 
unequal  height,  and  are  placed  in  the  direction  of  the  transept,— 


Fig.  227. — Fafade  and  Longitudinal  Section  of  S.  Maria  of  Naranco. 

the  capitals  of  the  columns,  partly  projecting,  partly  treated  as  im- 
posts, being  without  Corinthian  reminiscences. 

The  most  important  architectural  monument  of  the  kingdom  of 
Asturias  during  the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries  is  S.  Maria  of  Na- 
ranco, which  Spanish  antiquaries  have  designated  as  the  palace  of 
King  Ramiro  I.  (Figs.  227  and  228).  The  character  of  its  decora- 
tions, indeed,  seems  to  indicate  that  this  building  was  erected  at 


372 


ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


about  the  same  time  as  S.  Cristina  of  Lena,  and  it  must  be  acknowl- 
edged that  the  general  plan  is  rather  that  of  a  palace  than  of  a 
church.  But  notwithstanding  these  indications,  it  is  impossible  to 
determine  with  absolute  certainty  either  the  purpose  of  this  remark- 
able edifice  or  the  date  of  its  erection.  However  different  the  dec- 
orative treatment  of  the  structure,  the  plan  is  certainly  similar  to 
that  of  many  German  palaces  of  the  Romanic  period.  The  grand 
hall,  with  subsidiary  chambers  at  either  end,  is  built  above  a  low 
barrel-vaulted  ground-floor,  access  to  it  being  provided  by  a  monu- 
mental staircase  upon  one  of  the  longer  sides.  The  walls  of  the 
interior  are  richly  decorated  with  arcades  in  relief,  the  coupled  col- 
umns of  which  have  spirally  fluted  shafts,  and  capitals  imitated  from 


Fig.  228. — Plan  of  S.  Maria  of  Naranco. 

Corinthian  and  Byzantine  forms.  The  connection  between  the  ar- 
cades and  the  ribs  of  the  barrel-vault  is  effected  by  peculiar  vaulting 
shafts  which  rise  from  circular  shields.  The  details  of  these  sup- 
ports, and  of  the  capitals  beneath  them,  are  strikingly  similar  to 
those  of  the  before-mentioned  Church  of  S.  Cristina  of  Lena :  this 
repetition  making  it  evident  that  these  were  generally  recognized 
architectural  forms,  and  not  due  to  a  caprice  of  the  designer.  The 
same  is  the  case  with  the  rounded  terminations  of  the  moulding  of 
the  archivolt,  a,s  this  feature  is  also  observable  in  the  friezes  and 
buttresses  of  the  exterior,  giving  to  these  latter,  which  were  not 
built  in  bond  with  the  masonry  of  the  wall,  the  appearance  of  being 
fluted.  While  the  treatment  of  the  interior  is  somewhat  similar  to 


SPAIN. 


373 


the  system  of  St.  Pierre  de  Reddes  (Fig.  202  b),  the  more  indepen- 
dent design  of  the  exterior  differs  entirely  from  the  French  mod- 
els. Nevertheless,  these  memorials  are  not  sufficient  to  warrant  the 
assumption  of  an  architectural  style  peculiar  to  Northern  Spain 
during  the  Romanic  period. 

The  influence  of  the  Moors  established  in  the  South  was  not 
without  its  effect  upon  the  architecture  of  the  Christian  provinces, 
as  is  evident  from  the  columnar  basilicas  of  S.  Juan  at  Baflos  in 
Old  Castile,  and  S.  Miguel  of  Escalada  in  Leon,  the  Corinthian  cap- 


•         i          t         mi- 


Fig.  229. — Plan  and  System  of  S.  Miguel  of  Escalada. 

itals  of  which  support  arches  of  horse-shoe  shape  (Fig.  229).  The 
same  form  appears  in  the  double  windows  of  the  Basilica  of  S.  Sal- 
vador in  Valdedios  in  Asturias,  the  capitals  of  the  intermediate 
columns  of  which  are  Byzantine  in  style.  In  none  of  these  exam- 
ples is  there  an  apsidal  projection  of  the  choir,  the  altars  being 
placed  in  rectangular  chapels,  frequently  of  two  stories,  or  in  round 
niches  appearing  only  upon  the  interior,  as  in  S.  Miguel  of  Escalada 
(Fig.  229).  The  Church  of  Corpus  Christi  at  Segovia  is  a  direct  and 
almost  servile  copy  of  a  Moorish  model,  the  so-called  Old  Syna- 
gogue (S.  Maria  Blanca)  of  Toledo. 


374  ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE    ROMANIC    EPOCH. 

The  churches  of  Spain  with  an  apsidal  formation  of  the  choir 
seem  to  belong  to  a  later  age.  In  the  remarkable  Church  of  S.  Pe- 
dro y  S.  Pablo  at  Barcelona  the  ornamentations  of  the  fa£ade,  the 
dome  above  the  intersection  of  transept  and  nave,  the  portal,  and 
probably  also  the  cruciform  plan  with  one  main  apse  and  two  semi- 
circular chapels  at  either  end  of  the  transept,  cannot  be  referred  to 
the  original  construction  of  the  tenth  century.  The  case  is  similar 
with  S.Lorenzo  in  Segovia,  which,  though  without  a  cupola,  closely 
resembles  the  preceding  church,  and  with  S.  Daniel  in  Gerona,  where 
the  transept  is  provided  with  apses ;  both  of  these  buildings  display 
the  influences  of  Southern  France.  The  domed  Church  of  S.  Pedro 
at  Camprodon  in  Catalonia,  of  cruciform  plan,  is  more  independent 
in  character,  the  eastern  wall  of  the  transept  having  four  rectan- 
gular chapels  instead  of  the  terminal  apses.  Otherwise  a  group  of 
three  apses,  corresponding  to  the  nave  and  side  aisles,  like  the  rec- 
tangular chapels  of  the  before-mentioned  choirs,  was  customary  in 
Spain.  The  poorer  province  of  Asturias  formed  an  exception  in 
this  respect,  its  churches,  which  were  generally  without  side  aisles, 
having  but  a  single  apse.  Instances  of  this  formation  are  the  Paro- 
chial Church  of  Ujo,  S.Juan  of  Priorio,  and  S.  Maria  of  Villamayor. 

Most  of  the  churches  with  domes  and  apses  are  as  heavy  in  their 
proportions  as  the  earlier  structures  of  Southern  France,  the  influ- 
ence of  which  upon  the  ecclesiastical  architecture  of  Spain,  notice- 
able from  the  first  in  the  barrel- vaults,  became  more  and  more 
important.  The  Provencal  system  of  decoration  of  the  apses  and 
of  the  rectangular  choir  is  especially  recognizable  in  the  blind  ar- 
cades of  the  interior  and  the  tall  engaged  columns  and  modillion 
cornices  of  the  exterior.  They  did  not,  however,  attain  that  classic 
beauty  of  detail  which  had  been  preserved  in  Southern  France. 

Three-aisled  churches  with  three  apses  were  built  throughout 
Spain  during  the  first  half  of  the  twelfth  century.  The  same  sys- 
tem is  observable  from  the  southern  slopes  of  the  Pyrenees, — as  in 
S.  Pedro  at  Gerona  and  S.  Pedro  at  Huesca, — to  Galicia,  as  in  San- 
tiago and  S.  Maria  at  La  Corufla, — the  type  being  perhaps  best 
represented  at  Segovia,  while  the  most  varied  and  elaborate  exam- 
ples appear  at  Avila.  In  contrast  to  the  usual  memberment  of  the 
piers  with  engaged  columns,  S.  Millan  at  Segovia  (Fig.  230),  displays 


SPAIN.  375 

a  regular  alternation  of  columns  and  piers,  while  the  side  walls  are 
flanked  by  cloister- like  passages,  which  frequently  occur  in  Spain, 
though  usually  on  one  side  of  the  building  only.  S.  Andres  y  S.  Se- 
gundo,  alone  of  the  numerous  churches  of  Avila  which  belong  to 
this  class,  is  entirely  without  traces  of  the  Gothic  style,  both  S.  Pe- 
dro and  S.  Vicente  having  pointed  cross-vaults,  which  prove  them 
to  have  been  completed  at  a  later  date.  Other  examples  worthy  of 
remark  are  the  Collegiate  Church  of  Toro  (Leon),  with  its  magnifi- 
cent sixteen -sided  tower  above  the  intersection  of  transept  and 


Fig.  230.— Plan  and  System  of  S.  Millan  at  Segovia. 

nave,  richly  decorated  with  windows  and  blind  arcades,  and  with 
four  smaller  towers ;  and  S.  Isidore  in  the  town  of  Leon  (Fig.  23 1), 
the  clerestory  windows  of  which  are  so  close  to  the  summits  of  the 
main  arches  that  it  is  plain  they  were  originally  intended  as  the 
apertures  of  a  triforium. 

While  the  cross-vaults  above  the  side  aisles  of  the  last-mentioned 
church  display  the  influences  of  Auvergne  and  Toulouse,  the  most 
prominent  monument  of  the  Romanic  style  in  Spain  is  an  absolute 
copy  of  a  French  edifice.  This  is  the  celebrated  resort  of  pilgrims, 
the  Church  of  Santiago  of  Compostella  in  Galicia  (Fig.  232),  erected 


ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

during  the  century  preceding  1188,  which  is  so  like  the  Church  of 
St.  Sernin  in  Toulouse,  built  between  1060  and  1096,  that  the  direct 
transference  of  the  French  design  is  evident  beyond  a  doubt.  This 
is  not  contradicted  by  the  fact  that  the  body  of  the  church  in  San- 
tiago is  one  compartment  shorter  than  in  St.  Sernin,  and  the  transept 
as  much  longer,  or  that  the  five  aisles  of  the  French  building  have 
here  been  reduced  to  three.  Without  this  influence  the  dimensions 
of  the  transept,  which  had  no  parallel  in  Spain,  would  be  inexplica- 


0  5  10  JOITl-  0        '         2         1        »         Si* 

Fig.  231. — Plan  and  System  of  S.  Isidore  in  Leon. 

ble,  as  would  also  the  arrangement  of  the  choir  with  the  surrounding 
passage  and  radial  chapels.  To  this  may  be  added  the  regularity  of 
the  proportions  and  details  of  the  structure,  the  height  of  the  nave 
equal  to  the  width  of  the  three  aisles,  the  gallery  with  an  arcade  of 
columns,  and  the  introduction  of  engaged  shafts  upon  all  sides  of 
the  piers,  those  towards  the  nave  being  continued  to  the  impost 
of  the  vault  as  supporters  of  the  transverse  ribs.  The  barrel-vaults 
of  the  lower  story  of  the  side  aisles  and  the  bisected  forms  above 
also  point  to  the  constructive  methods  of  Auvergne  and  Toulouse. 


SPAIN. 

Later  restorations  have  much  disfigured  this  imposing  structure  of 
granite,  the  radial  chapels  and  the  apses  of  the  side  aisles  having  in 
greater  part  been  destroyed. 

It  is  natural  that  so  important  a  work,  on  so  celebrated  a  site, 
should  have  exercised  a  great  influence  upon  the  neighboring  coun- 
try. The  arrangement  of  the  Cathedral  of  Lugo  is  unquestionably 
derived  from  Santiago,  although  its  arcades,  gallery,  and  barrel- 
vaults  are  of  a  pointed  form.  The  advance  of  France  in  the  devel- 


*     •          »         3»nv  o    i     ;    s    <•    4  »V 

Fig.  232. — Plan  and  System  of  Santiago  of  Compostella. 

opment  of  the  Gothic  style  was  soon  followed  by  Spain,  and  after 
the  appearance  of  the  characteristic  features  in  the  cross-vaults  of 
S.  Vicente  and  S.  Pedro  in  Avila  the  so-called  transitional  style  be- 
came more  and  more  prevalent.  Examples  of  this  period  are  the 
old  Cathedral  of  Salamanca,  A.D.  1120  to  1178,  and  the  Cathedrals 
of  Tarragona,  begun  in  1131,  of  Tudela,  completed  in  1188,  and  of 
Lerida,  begun  in  1203.  These  churches,  which  resemble  the  build- 
ings of  France  only  in  the  main  features,  were  all  three-aisled,  the 


378  ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

clerestory  walls  being  supported  upon  piers,  and  the  short  choir 
terminated  by  three  parallel  apses.  A  more  direct  introduction 
of  later  French  forms  is  evident  in  the  Abbey  Church  of  Veruela, 
probably  built  between  1146  and  1171,  the  style  of  Burgundy  hav- 
ing evidently  been  imported  by  the  French  Cistercians.  These  imi- 
tations did  not,  however,  become  typical,  the  architecture  of  Spain 
not  attaining  to  an  importance  comparable  to  that  of  France  until 
the  appearance  of  the  fully  developed  Gothic  style,  and  its  adop- 
tion in  the  magnificent  Cathedrals  of  Burgos  and  Toledo,  A.D.  1221 

and  1227. 

GREAT    BRITAIN. 

The  geographical  position  of  the  Iberian  peninsula  is  alone  suf- 
ficient to  account  for  the  architectural  relations  of  Spain  with  South- 
ern France,  but  the  artistic  dependence  of  Great  Britain*  upon 
Normandy  must  be  explained  by  the  political  history  of  the  island 
as  well  as  by  its  vicinity  to  this  part  of  the  continent.  England  was 
even  more  subjected  to  the  influence  of  Normandy  in  architectural 
than  in  social  and  political  respects ;  for  while  in  the  former  the 
earlier  methods  of  building  were  entirely  supplanted  by  the  style  of 
Northern  France,  in  the  latter  the  Anglo-Saxon  elements  decidedly 
preponderated,  even  under  the  Norman  rule. 

It  is  beyond  question  that,  before  the  decisive  battle  of  Hastings, 
the  architectural  works  of  England  were  inferior  to  those  of  North- 
ern France.  Until  the  end  of  the  tenth  century  Normandy  had 
taken  a  full  share  in  the  advance  of  classical  Carolingian  civilization 
through  its  important  convents.  Burgundian  influences  had  soon 
after  made  themselves  felt,  and  had  led  to  the  development  of  that 
peculiar  style  which  renders  the  architecture  of  the  North  of  France 
fully  equal  in  artistic  interest  to  that  of  the  South.  The  classic  and 
early  Christian  traditions  of  England,  on  the  other  hand,  had  been 
entirely  swept  away  by  the  invasions  of  the  Danes  in  the  ninth  cen- 
tury, this  throwing  the  country,  in  artistic  respects,  upon  its  own 
resources,  which  were  not  sufficiently  important  to  resist  the  influ- 
ence of  the  brilliant  style  introduced  from  beyond  the  Channel. 

*  J.  Britton,  The  Architectural  Antiquities  of  Great  Britain.  London,  1835. — Idem, 
The  Ancient  Architecture  of  England.  London,  1845, 


GREAT  BRITAIN. 


379 


The  English  remains  dating  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  and  Danish 
periods  are  few  in  number  and  of  uncertain  date.  It  appears  that 
almost  all  the  churches  founded  by  the  Saxon  kings  and  by  Canute 
the  Great  were  of  wood,  and  that  even  at  the  beginning  of  the 
eleventh  century  many  of  them  were  built  of  palisades,  that  is 
to  say,  of  upright  timbers  and  boards  instead  of  horizontal  block- 
beams,  and  were  thatched  with  reeds.  Stone  structures  were  not 
entirely  lacking,  but  only  those  were  of  importance  which  had  been 
designed  in  the  Norman  style,  such  as  Westminster,  the  founder  of 
which,  Edward  the  Confessor,  had 
been  educated  in  France.  Almost 
all  the  buildings  were  of  nogging, 
or  of  stones  roughly  cut  and  so 
disposed  as  to  imitate  the  forms 
of  the  timbered  framework  of  this 
manner  of  construction,  long  blocks 
of  stone  being  embedded  in  an  ex- 
tremely rude  masonry  of  rubble 
and  flint  facings,  not  only  horizon- 
tally and  as  uprights,  but  in  some 
cases  obliquely,  while  triangles  take 
the  place  of  arches  above  window- 
openings  and  blind  arcades.  This 
is  the  case  in  the  Church  of  the 
Castle  of  Dover,  the  Church  of  Brix- 
worth  (Northampton),  and  especially 
in  some  towers  like  that  of  Earls 
Barton  in  Northampton  (Fig.  233), 

St.  Peter  at  Barton-upon-Humber,  and  Barneck  (Lincolnshire).  In 
all  these  works  the  imitation  of  the  wooden  beams  is  unmistakable, 
and  in  like  manner  the  adoption  of  designs  of  timbered  constructions 
are  evident  in  the  galleries  and  groups  of  windows,  the  small  columns 
of  which  resemble  balusters,  being  without  any  of  the  traditional 
forms  of  bases  and  capitals,  while  the  encircling  fillets  and  the 
bulging  forms  give  them  a  marked  resemblance  to  the  products  of 
the  turning- lathe  (Fig.  234).  The  annulets  appear  as  an  imitation 
of  hoops  of  metal  around  wooden  supports,  and  it  is  worthy  of  note 


Fig.  233.— Tower  of  Earls  Barton. 


ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

in  this  connection  that  the  capitals,  bases,  and  arches  of  the  Abbey 
Church  of  Waltham,  built  between  1062  and  1066,  are  said  to  have 
been  reveted  with  sheets  of  gilded  copper.  This  empaistic  work, 
which  would  have  been  impossible  without  a  core  of  wood,  or  at 
least  a  wooden  model,  may  be  compared  to  the  sheet-armor  of  that 
period,  and  was  in  accord  with  the  martial  character  of  the  people. 
The  memberment  of  the  walls  in  the  interior  of  the  larger  churches 
must  have  been  similar  to  the  exterior  of  the  towers  of  Earls  Barton 
or  St.  Peter  in  Barton-upon-Humber. 

After  the  conquest  of  England  by  the  Normans,  the  French  oc- 
cupied not  only  the  highest  political  offices  but  the  most  influential 
positions  of  the  Church.  They  thus  had  the  opportunity  of  further- 


I  _;A,r-i 


Fig.  234. — Columns  of  Earls  Barton. 

ing  the  erection  of  ecclesiastical  buildings  and  of  introducing  the 
constructive  methods  of  Normandy.  The  same  Lanfrancus  who 
had  built  the  finest  edifice  of  Northern  France,  St.  Etienne  at  Caen, 
became  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  after  the  destruction  of  this 
town  by  fire,  A.  D.  1070,  erected  there  a  copy  of  St.  Etienne.  His 
nephew,  Paulus,  was  not  so  well  enabled  to  follow  the  designs  of 
his  native  country  in  the  building  of  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Albans, 
finished  in  1116,  as  the  materials  which  had  been  provided  by  his 
Saxon  predecessors  obliged  him  to  retain  in  great  measure  the 
methods  of  construction  previously  customary.  Gundulphus  of 
Caen,  who  superintended  the  re-erection  of  the  Cathedral  of  Roch- 
ester, had  been  the  military  engineer  of  William  the  Conqueror,  and 


GREAT   BRITAIN. 


381 


appears  to  have  transferred  the  style  of  his  fortifications  even  to 
ecclesiastical  edific&s — these  characteristics  being  observable  in  the 
Chapel  of  St.  John  in  the  Tower  of  London  (Fig.  235).  Its  simple 
plan,  without  a  transept,  the  passage  surrounding  the  choir  without 
radial  chapels,  the  plain  and  massive  columns,  and  the  walls  and 
barrel -vault  entirely  without  architectural  memberment,  are  very 
different  from  the  forms  common  in  Normandy  during  this  period. 
Otherwise  the  more  important  buildings  of  England,  erected 


F'g-  235- — Interior  of  the  Chapel  of  St.  John  in  the  Tower  of  London. 

during  the  twelfth  century,  closely  follow  the  style  of  Normandy. 
The  effect  was  generally  more  heavy  and  gloomy,  because  of  the 
massiveness  of  the  masonry,  resulting  from  the  employment  of  a 
casting  of  cement  and  stone  chips  between  ashlar  facings.  When 
columns  were  introduced  instead  of  piers  they  were  exceedingly 
thick  and  short,  being  built  up  of  small  stones,  and  appearing  the 
more  clumsy  because  of  the  comparatively  low  and  insignificant 
capitals  and  bases.  The  capitals  were  commonly  ribbed  like  those 
of  Normandy,  and  in  some  instances  display  a  grouping  which  was 


382 


ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC    EPOCH. 


evidently  derived  from  the  imposts  of  piers,  and  was  entirely  with- 
out organic  connection  with  the  shaft.  The  galleries  and  clerestory 
windows  were  generally  similar  in  form  to  those  of  Normandy,  but 
the  engaged  shafts  of  the  Romanic  epoch  were  not  at  this  time  em- 
ployed in  England  as  the  supports  for  vaults  like  those  of  Caen,— 
the  main  ceiling  being  a  horizontal  timbered  construction,  while  the 
lean-to  roofs  of  the  side  aisles  were  open  to  the  rafters.  On  the 

other  hand,  the  walls  were  often  richly 
carved,  and  the  shafts  of  the  columns  were 
covered  with  linear  ornaments,  especially  in 
a  spiral  arrangement.  The  archivolts  were 
divided  into  many  mouldings,  and  orna- 
mented, at  least  on  the  side  towards  the 
nave,  with  chevrons,  and  at  times  with 
billets,  battlement  friezes,  checkers,  dia- 
monds, scales,  and  similar  Romanic  pat- 
terns,— made  attractive  by  their  ingenious 
diversity  (Fig.  236). 

This  profuse  and  carefully  executed 
decoration  was  the  more  required,  as  the 
arrangement  of  plan  and  the  constructive 
forms  by  no  means  equalled  those  of  the 
Rhenish  countries  or  of  Burgundy.  At  first 
the  continental  choir  with  an  apse  was  em- 
ployed, but  a  return  was  soon  made  to  the 

£"*— j j — + ' '        long-accustomed    rectangular  termination, 

Fig.  236. -System  of  the  Nave   whjch  in   Germany  and   France  had   only 
of  Steyning  Church.  been   retained   by   the  dull   and   inartistic 

Cistercians.  On  the  other  hand,  the  pres- 
bytery beyond  the  transept  was  so  extended  that  it  almost  equalled 
the  nave  in  length,  the  transept  being  placed  in  the  middle  of  the 
church.  The  perspective  effect  of  the  interior  was  thus  decidedly 
improved.  Notwithstanding  the  lack  of  a  surrounding  passage  and 
radial  chapels  in  the  choir,  the  necessary  sites  for  the  altars  were 
provided  by  an  extension  of  the  eastern  side  of  the  transept  by  as 
many  chapels  as  there  were  compartments,  or  by  adding  a  second 
transept  at  the  end  of  the  choir,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  Cathedral 


GREAT   BRITAIN. 


383 


of  Durham,  where  space  is  thus  provided  for  six  subordinate  altars 
(Fig.  237). 

A  more  remarkable  deviation  from  the  style  of  Normandy  is 
noticeable  on  the  exterior.  By  their  massiveness,  low  proportions, 
and  bald  horizontality  the  English  churches  were  even  more  re- 
moved in  character  from  those  of  the  Rhenish  countries  than  were 
the  buildings  of  Northern  France.  The  three  stories  of  windows 


Fig.  237.— Plan  of  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Durham. 


Fig.  238. — System  of  the  Exterior 
of  the  Cathedral  of  Durham. 


made  necessary  by  the  galleries  seldom  equalled  in  height  the  two 
divisions  of  the  Romanic  cathedrals  of  Mayence  and  its  neighbor- 
hood. The  ground -floor  was  not  elevated  above  the  level  of  the 
earth,  and  the  portals  consequently  became  low  and  insignificant. 
The  buttresses  did  not  have  the  ornamental  character  of  a  frame- 
work, like  the  pilaster  strips  of  the  German  Romanic  edifices,  as 
they  were  rarely  continued  to  the  top  of  the  wall  and  were  conse- 
quently not  connected  with  the  main  cornice.  The  forms  of  the 


384  ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

Romanic  corbel -table  were  seldom  employed.  The  walls  were  di- 
vided by  numerous  horizontal  string  courses,  which  were  of  a  most 
stiff  and  inartistic  effect  when  the  divisions  of  the  walls  between 
them  were  not  relieved  by  blind  arcades  (Fig.  238).  When  arches 
in  relief  were  employed  they  often  surpassed  those  of  Normandy  in 
delicate  elaboration,  being  supported  upon  groups  of  engaged  shafts 
instead  of  upon  simple  pilasters.  They  were  occasionally  varied 
with  good  effect  by  intersecting  arches  extending  from  the  first  to 
the  third  and  from  the  second  to  the  fourth  support.  The  roofs 
above  the  horizontal  ceilings  were  but  slightly  inclined,  and  were 
often  entirely  hidden  from  view  by  the  introduction  of  battlements 
above  the  main  cornice. 

These  battlements,  together  with  the  emphasized  division  of  the 
exterior  into  stories,  gave  the  English  churches  rather  the  appear- 
ance of  fortresses  than  of  places  of  worship.  In  like  manner  the 
towers  resembled  the  primitive  Anglo-Saxon  barbacans  or  keep- 
towers.  These  structures  were  seldom  erected  in  pairs,  as  in  the 
imposing  edifices  of  Germany.  They  were  placed  above  the  inter- 
section of  the  transept  and  nave, — before  the  western  front,  or,  in 
some  cases,  upon  one  side  of  the  body  of  the  church,  and  were  often 
of  enormous  dimensions,  divided  by  cornices  into  cubical  stories. 
Some  relief  was  afforded  by  a  lavish  decoration  of  blind  arcades,  but 
the  resemblance  of  these  structures  to  fortifications  was  increased 
by  the  terminating  cornice  of  battlements,  often  rendered  of  even 
more  defiant  aspect  by  the  small  bartizans  and  turrets  added  at 
its  corners.  These  towers,  but  slightly  diminished,  emphasize  the 
heavy  and  angular  character  of  the  Norman  buildings  of  England, 
while  conveying  the  impression  of  a  massive  indestructibility  not 
even  equalled  by  the  edifices  of  the  Byzantines. 

The  Norman  style  had  reached  its  perfection  before  it  was  in- 
troduced into  England,  and  did  not  experience  any  true  develop- 
ment upon  the  island.  This  want  of  growth,  and  the  fact  that 
there  were  no  monuments  of  this  style  erected  after  the  first  cen- 
tury of  the  Norman  occupation,  renders  it  impossible  to  treat  of 
the  Romanic  architecture  of  England  in  a  purely  historic  manner. 
Two  chief  classes  of  buildings  are  indeed  to  be  distinguished,  but 
these  were  not  consecutive  in  point  of  time,  appearing  from  the 
first  almost  side  by  side. 


GREAT   BRITAIN.  385 

A  considerable  number  of  ecclesiastical  edifices  show  the  at- 
tempts to  effect  a  compromise  between  the  Anglo-Saxon  and  the 
Norman  styles.  Traces  of  the  classic  and  early  Christian  disposition 
of  the  plan  and  of  Anglo-Saxon  methods  of  decoration  appear,  to- 
gether with  the  Norman  forms.  To  this  class  belongs  the  before- 
mentioned  Cathedral  of  St.  Albans.  A  certain  retention  of  the 
columnar  basilical  plan  is  noticeable  in  St.  John  in  the  Tower  of 
London,  in  the  Church  of  Steyning  (Sussex),  and  even  in  the  Ca- 
thedral of  Gloucester, — all  of  which  were  erected  before  the  year 
uoo,  —  during  the  first  decades  following  the  Norman  conquest. 
The  comparatively  high  capitals  in  the  chapel  of  the  Tower  still 
preserve  a  faint  resemblance  to  Corinthian  forms,  which  otherwise 
had  almost  entirely  disappeared.  It  may  be  assumed  that  these 
structures  are  referable  in  some  measure  to  the  school  of  Bishop 
Gundulphus  of  Rochester,  the  builder  of  the  Tower  chapel. 

The  second  group  comprises  a  number  of  churches  resembling 
the  Cathedral  of  Canterbury,  built  by  Lanfrancus,  and  consequently 
related  to  St.  Etienne  in  Caen,  which  had  been  closely  imitated  in 
this  first  English  cathedral  of  the  Norman  style.  The  Cathedral  of 
Canterbury  itself  was  almost  entirely  altered  a  century  later  by  a 
Gothic  reconstruction,  but  the  transept  of  the  Cathedral  of  Win- 
chester, dating  to  the  original  building,  A.  D.  1079  to  IO93»  ^nd  the 
ruins  upon  the  island  of  Lindisfarne  near  Berwick,  A.  D.  1090,  are  of 
a  system  similar  to  that  of  St.  Etienne,  notwithstanding  the  alterna- 
tion of  piers  and  columns.  The  French  model  was  also  followed  by 
the  most  important  English  buildings  of  the  twelfth  century:  the 
Cathedrals  of  Durham  (Fig.  237),  A.  D.  1108  to  1128;  Rochester, 
from  about  1090  to  1130;  Ely,  A.D.  1133;  Chichester,  A.  D.  1114  to 
about  1140;  Peterborough  (Fig,  239),  A.D.  111710  1145;  and  the 
Abbey  Church  of  Waltham  (Fig.  240).  These  structures,  though 
delicately  and  lavishly  decorated  with  details  of  extremely  careful 
and  intelligent  stone-cutting,  exhibit  but  little  independence  of  de- 
sign in  the  portions  referable  to  this  period.  Although  the  piers 
were  occasionally  more  elaborately  membered,  this  did  not  lead  to 
a  constructive  advance ;  the  cornices  and  decorations  did  not  influ- 
ence the  heavy  and  clumsy  forms  of  the  masonry,  and  there  was 
altogether  no  progressive  improvement.  It  is  especially  remarka- 

25 


386 

ble  that  the  ceilings  of  stone  to  which  the  framework  naturally 
pointed  were  but  seldom  introduced,  either  because  vaults  of  large 
span  were  beyond  the  constructive  ability  of  the  builders,  or  be- 
cause the  horizontal  ceilings  of  wood  were  retained  in  conservative 
England  from  a  preference  for  this  more  accustomed  feature. 

In  view  of  this  want  of  development  in  constructive  respects  it 
is  not  surprising  that  the  more  difficult  arrangements  of  plan,  such, 
for  instance,  as  the  apsidal  termination  of  the  choir,  were  avoided. 


Fig-  239.— System  of  the  Cathedral  of 
Peterborough. 


Fig.  240. — System  of  the  Abbey  Church  of 
Waltham. 


Concentric  churches  became  even  rarer  than  before,  St.  Sepulchre 
at  Cambridge  (Fig.  241)  being  the  only  edifice  of  the  kind  referable 
to  the  Romanic  period.  Even  here  the  memberment  of  the  archi- 
volts  has  no  organic  connection  with  the  short  and  thick  columns, 
while  the  want  of  harmony  of  the  interior  is  increased  by  the  dis- 
proportionately high  dome. 

As  no  convents  dating  to  the  Romanic  period  have  been  pre- 


GREAT   BRITAIN. 


3*7 


served  in  England,  the  dwellings  are  to  be  judged  only  from  the 
enormous  keep -towers.  Since  they  were  not  intended  merely  for 
occupation  during  a  siege,  but  provided  the  living-rooms  of  the 
master  and  accommodation  for  a  number  of  servants,  these  towers 
were  more  spacious  than  the  barbacans  of  German  castles.  The 
excessively  thick  walls  were  membered  upon  the  exterior  with  pilas- 
ter strips.  The  hall  above  the  dungeon  or  well  was  occupied  by  the 
menials,  while  that  on  a  higher  level  was  reserved  for  the  master, 


Fig.  241. — Section  of  St.  Sepulchre  at  Cambridge. 

deep  niches  providing  the  requisite  chambers,  two  stories  of  which 
in  some  instances  corresponded  to  the  height  of  the  central  hall. 
These  lateral  rooms  were  connected  by  passages  and  staircases. 
Their  small  windows  gave  light  and  air  to  the  main  half?  the  cen- 
tral space  being  extended  by  the  richly  ornamented  intervening 
arches.  Like  the  cathedrals  of  England,  most  of  the  rectangular 
keep-towers  were  imitated  from  Norman  models,  such  as  the  well- 
preserved  donjons  of  Chambois,  Lillebonne,  and  Courcy.  A  greater 


388  ARCHITECTURE   OF  THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

number  of  these  structures,  however,  have  remained  in  England 
than  in  France.  Noteworthy  examples  are  the  Tower  of  London, 
the  Castle  of  Rochester,  also  dating  to  the  time  of  Gundulphus,  and 
the  Castles  of  Guildford  (Surrey),  Gainsborough  (Yorkshire),  and 
Hedingham  (Essex). 

Scotland*  was  slow  in  following  the  example  of  England.  The 
few  buildings  of  this  thinly  populated  and  comparatively  poor  coun- 
try, antedating  the  age  of  King  David  I.,  A.  D.  1124  to  1165,  were 
even  less  important  than  those  of  the  Anglo-Saxons.  It  naturally 
resulted  from  the  mountainous  and  well -wooded  character  of  the 
land  that  timbered  constructions  were  universal ;  buildings  of  wood 
were  commonly  designated  by  English  chroniclers  of  the  period  as 
"more  Scotorum"  The  few  churches  of  stone  were  of  small  size 
and  wholly  without  artistic  importance.  In  the  twelfth  century, 
however,  so  many  Norman  edifices  had  been  erected  in  England 
that  their  effect  could  not  but  be  felt  in  Scotland,  notwithstanding 
the  enmity  of  the  two  races.  This  was  the  more  natural  as  the 
Scots  stood  in  more  intimate  and  amicable  relations  to  the  French 
than  did  the  English,  and  consequently  received  the  same  influence 
at  first  hand.  The  Norman  style  of  Scotland  thus  differs  but  little 
from  that  of  England,  and  having  been  introduced  at  a  compara- 
tively late  period,  had  no  opportunity  for  further  development. 
The  Church  of  Kirkwall,  upon  Pomona,  one  of  the  Orkney  Islands, 
was  begun  in  1136  and  completed  with  Gothic  forms,  while  the  Ab- 
bey Churches  of  Jedburgh  and  Kelso  belong  entirely  to  the  transi- 
tional period. 

Ireland  f  was  somewhat  more  independent  in  artistic  respects 
than  Scotland,  having  been  Christianized  at  an  earlier  age.  Pre- 
served by  its  insular  position  from  foreign  influences,  its  art,  as  early 
as  the  eighth  century,  was  of  a  peculiar  character.  The  Celtic  style 
was,  it  is  true,  merely  decorative,  the  patterns  being  derived  from 

*  R.  W.  Billings  and  W.  Burn,  Baronial  and  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  Scotland. 
London  and  Edinburgh,  1845-1852. 

f  G.  Petrie,  The  Ecclesiastical  Architecture  of  Ireland  anterior  to  the  Anglo-Norman 
Invasion.  Dublin,  1845. 


GREAT   BRITAIN.  389 

the  primitive  forms  of  the  North,  and  developed  to  a  high  degree 
of  technical  perfection.  As  we  have  seen,  these  designs  were  not 
only  extended  throughout  a  great  part  of  the  Continent  by  the  illu- 
minated manuscripts  introduced  through  the  Irish  missionaries,  but 
appeared  in  the  braided  and  intertwined  decorations  which  were 
common  during  the  Romanic  period,  and  supplanted  to  a  great  ex- 
tent the  classic  foliage  and  the  straight-lined  figures  of  other  styles. 
In  architectural  design  and  construction,  however,  the  island  was  so 
far  behind  the  civilization  of  the  Carolingians  and  Byzantines  that 
during  the  Romanic  epoch  it  not  only  was  wholly  without  influence 
upon  the  more  advanced  countries,  but  was  itself  destitute  of  the 
qualities  requisite  to  accept  the  superior  methods  of  building  prac- 
tised upon  the  Continent. 

Side  by  side  with  the  chapels  of  wood,  built  "  Scotico  more  "  in 
Ireland  between  the  eighth  and  twelfth  centuries,  structures  of  stone 
occasionally  appeared.  These  were,  however,  of  so  primitive  a  plan 
and  of  so  rude  a  masonry,  resembling  that  of  the  Cyclopean  walls 
of  classic  lands,  that  they  would  naturally  be  referred  to  a  prehis- 
toric age  were  not  the  date  of  their  erection  frequently  assured  by 
documentary  evidence.  Rectangular,  horizontally  ceiled  chapels  are 
often  combined  with  somewhat  smaller  square  choirs,  the  ceilings 
of  the  latter  being  occasionally  shaped  like  pointed  barrel -vaults. 
These  structures  were,  however,  built  without  vousoirs,  in  horizon- 
tal courses,  the  projection  beginning  from  the  ground.  There  was 
no  trace  whatever  of  the  true  principles  of  vaulted  construction ; 
even  the  doors  and  windows  were  either  square -headed,  or  termi- 
nated by  large  stones  so  inclined  as  to  form  a  gable,  or  by  a  mono- 
lithic lintel  cut  to  a  curve.  Both  the  constructive  and  the  decora- 
tive forms  of  these  buildings  were  exceedingly  rude. 

To  this  class  belong  the  chapels  of  Gallerus,  Lough  Corrib,  Ra- 
tass,  Glenalough,  Kilmaduagh,  Dairbhile,  and  Fore.  As  little  artis- 
tic importance  can  be  attached  to  the  towers  of  this  period,  which 
in  their  cylindrical  plan  and  greatly  diminished  elevation  contrast 
strongly  with  the  square  and  massive  towers  of  England.  The 
masonry  of  these  piles  is  decidedly  superior  to  that  of  the  body  of 
the  churches,  with  which  they  were  not  immediately  connected,  but 
in  artistic  respects  they  were  of  quite  as  little  interest. 


390  ARCHITECTURE   OF  THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

These  structures  of  stone  do  not  seem  to  have  been  carved  with 
decorative  details  before  the  eleventh  century.  At  all  events,  no 
monumental  ornamentation  is  known  which  does  not  more  or  less 
distinctly  betray  the  influence  of  the  Norman  style.  The  portal  of 
the  round  tower  of  Timahoe,  with  its  peculiar  bases  and  capitals  of 
intertwined  patterns  and  rude  sculptures  of  human  heads,  displays, 
by  the  introduction  of  chevrons  upon  the  mouldings  of  the  arch,  the 
transition  between  the  forms  of  the  indigenous  carvings  of  wood 
and  the  ornamentations  of  Northern  France.  The  untrained  imita- 
tion of  Norman  designs  in  the  portal  of  the  Tower  of  Kildare  is  an 
evidence  of  a  further  advance  in  this  direction.  In  the  later  build- 
ings of  Clonmacnoise,  Killaloe,  Freshford,  etc.,  the  Norman  elements 
became  more  and  more  important,  and  in  the  Chapel  of  Cormac 
at  Cashel,  consecrated  in  1134,  they  were  exclusively  employed. 
Braided  and  intertwined  ornaments,  nevertheless,  occasionally  make 
their  appearance  in  later  times,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  Cathedral  of 
Tuam,  built  between  1128  and  1150,  the  capitals  of  which  present  a 
combination  of  distorted  masks  and  strap -work.  Among  the  few 
peculiarities  of  the  Romanic  buildings  in  Ireland  may  be  mentioned 
a  straight  termination  with  a  one -aisled  plan,  and  the  two-storied 
choir,  which  was  arranged  in  a  manner  similar  to  that  observable 
on  the  northern  coast  of  Spain. 

SCANDINAVIA. 

The  islands  and  peninsulas  upon  the  north  of  the  Baltic  were 
inferior  in  artistic  interest  even  to  Great  Britain.  Although  this 
was  the  native  land  of  the  Normans,  who  had  occupied  Northern 
France  and  conquered  England,  it  exhibits  no  trace  of  the  begin- 
nings of  Norman  art.*  On  the  contrary,  an  influence  far  more  im- 
portant than  that  derived  from  Scandinavia  was  introduced  into  this 
country  from  Normandy  and  England.  The  greater  part  of  its  civ- 
ilization was,  however,  of  German  origin. 

*  J.  C.  C.  Dahl,  Denkmaler  einer  sehr  ausgebildeten  Holzbaukunst  der  friihesten  Jahr- 
hunderte  in  den  inneren  Landschaften  Norwegens.  Dresden,  1837. — A.  v.  Minutoli,  Der 
Dom  zu  Drontheim  und  die  mittelalterliche  christliche  Baukunst  der  skandinavischen  Nor- 
mannen.  Berlin,  1853. — Nicolausen,  Mindesmerker  of  middelalderens  Kunst  in  Norwe- 
gen.  Christiania,  1855.— P.  Lehfeldt,  Die  Holzbaukunst.  Berlin,  1880. 


SCANDINAVIA.  391 

The  Danes  and  Norwegians,— the  two  nations  most  closely  allied 
in  ethnographical  and  historical  respects,  — were  Christianized  at 
about  the  same  time,  the  former  under  King  Harold  Bluetooth, 
A.  D.  936  to  986,  the  latter  under  Olaf  I.,  Trygvason,  A.D.  995  to 
1000.  Before  this  period  both  Denmark  and  Norway  were  alto- 
gether without  architectural  monuments,  in  the  true  sense  of  the 
word.  Palisades  served  as  fortifications  instead  of  walls,  and  even 
the  palaces  of  the  kings  were  roughly  built  of  squared  logs,  the 
interstices  between  which  were  stuffed  with  moss,  the  whole  struct- 
ure being  coated  with  tar.  Colored  mats  formed  the  chief  adorn- 
ments of  the  interior.  It  may  nevertheless  be  assumed  that  certain 
details,  such  as  the  jambs  and  panels  of  doors,  gables  and  gargoyles, 
and  especially  the  furniture,  were  ornamented  with  painted  carv- 
ings and  with  sheets  of  metal,  as  is  stated  to  have  been  the  case 
with  the  ships  of  Sweyn  Forkbeard,  King  of  the  Danes,  A.  D.  986 
to  1013.  These  decorations,  like  those  of  the  later  wooden  build- 
ings, doubtless  consisted  of  monstrous  and  distorted  images,  and 
of  fantastic  intertwined  patterns. 

The  earliest  churches  were  constructed  of  wood.  This  was  the 
case  with  all  those  founded  by  King  Harold  Bluetooth,  among 
which  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity  at  Roeskild  seems  to  have 
been  the  most  important.  Even  the  churches  erected  by  Canute 
the  Great,  A.D.  1013  to  1035,  in  Denmark  and  England,  were  of 
this  material.  In  Norway  timbered  constructions  have  continued 
to  be  employed  for  the  most  important  edifices,  and  more  than  fifty 
ancient  churches  built  of  wood  are  still  standing.  These  were  erect- 
ed at  very  different  periods ;  the  age  of  only  one  can  be  certainly  de- 
termined, the  Church  of  Tind  or  Atro  in  Upper  Telemarken,  which, 
according  to  its  Runic  inscriptions,  dates  to  the  years  between  1180 
and  1 190,  The  style  of  its  ornamentation,  however,  proves  that  this 
church  is  by  no  means  the  oldest  among  those  known.  Judging  from 
the  primitive  and  unconventionalized  character  of  the  wood  carv- 
ings, the  Church  of  Urnes  (Fig.  242)  and  that  of  Borgund  (Fig.  243), 
both  in  the  province  of  Sorge,  are  older  than  that  of  Tind,  while 
that  of  Hitterdal  in  Lower  Telemarken  may  perhaps  be  ascribed  to 
the  same  age. 

These  structures  are  mostly  small,  and  closely  resemble  each 


392 


ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE    ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


other  in  architectural  treatment.  The  rectangular  body  of  the 
church  is  divided  by  columns  of  wood,  which  are  carried  around 
the  four  sides  and  support  a  simple  framework  of  timbers.  The 
aisles  thus  formed  at  the  sides  and  ends  are  roofed  on  a  lower  level 
than  is  the  nave ;  the  choir,  at  times  terminated  by  an  apse,  is  of 
corresponding  height.  In  many  cases  the  entire  building  is  sur- 


- 


•        i    « 


Fig.  242. — Plan  and  View  of  the  Church  of  Urnes. 


rounded  by  a  low  and  narrow  corridor  like  a  cloister  (Lof),  the  lean- 
to  roof  of  which  is  supported  upon  ranges  of  diminutive  columns. 
This  passage  is  interrupted  on  the  front  and  sides  by  projecting 
portals.  The  walls  of  the  church,  formed  of  upright  boards  and 
beams,  are  thus  hidden  from  view  and  protected  from  the  influences 
of  the  weather.  The  arrangement  of  the  roofs  is  pyramidal,  the 
lean-to  roof  of  the  aisles  and  choir  rising  above  that  of  the  sur- 


SCANDINAVIA. 


393 


rounding  passage,  while  the  steep  saddle -roof  of  the  nave  is  sur- 
mounted by  a  small  ridge  turret,  serving  as  a  belfry.  The  narrow 
wall-surfaces  between  these  roofs  are  covered,  like  them,  with  shin- 


Fig.  243. — Plan  and  View  of  the  Church  of  Borgund. 

gles.  The  interior  is  less  attractive.  The  windows  are  few  and 
small  of  size,  and  the  tall  beams  which  serve  as  supports  are  with- 
out memberment  and  organic  connection ;  the  roof  timberings  and 
ceiling  panels  are  not  decorated,  carvings  in  relief,  like  those  of 


394  ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

the  portals,  being  restricted  in  the  interior  to  the  cubical  capitals. 
In  the  churches  of  Urnes  and  Borgund  the  boarded  ceilings,  which 
are  similar  in  form  to  barrel-vaults,  or,  to  speak  more  correctly,  to 
the  plankings  of  a  ship,  are  decorated  in  color  but  not  carved ;  the 
same  is  the  case  with  the  horizontal  ceiling  of  boards  in  the  church 
at  Hitterdal. 

The  carvings  are  of  interwoven  patterns,  resembling  those  of  Ire- 
land, but  the  imitation  of  the  braided  work  is  here  less  direct.  The 
straps  differ  in  thickness,  the  larger  parts  often  taking  the  forms  of 
fantastic  animals ;  they  are  not  arranged  according  to  any  conven- 
tional system,  but  solely  with  reference  to  the  panels  which  they 
are  required  to  fill.  This  character  appears  in  the  carvings  of  the 
Church  of  Urnes.  In  the  course  of  time  the  designs  become  more 
methodical,  of  a  lower  relief,  and  less  original ;  the  ends  take  the 
form  of  leaves,  thus  resembling  the  Romanic  foliage  of  Germany. 
The  later  stage  of  development  is  exemplified  by  the  before-men- 
tioned Church  of  Tind.  Conventionalized  designs  of  this  kind  con- 
tinued to  be  employed  with  but  few  alterations  in  the  carvings  of 
Scandinavia,  and  can  still  be  traced  in  the  wooden  utensils  of  that 
country. 

The  oldest  works  of  masonry  in  the  Danish  countries  are  the 
Cathedral  of  Roeskild  in  Zealand,  built  by  King  Canute  IV.  be- 
tween 1080  and  1086,  and  that  begun  by  the  same  king  in  the  town 
of  Lund,  which  now  belongs  to  Sweden.  Both  have  been  much  al- 
tered by  subsequent  reconstructions,  that  of  the  original  Cathedral 
of  Lund  having  taken  place  towards  the  end  of  the  twelfth  cent- 
ury, while  the  rebuilding  of  Roeskild  was  two  hundred  years  later. 
Both  distinctly  display  the  characteristics  of  German  models.  The 
former  seems  to  have  been  designed  with  reference  to  the  introduc- 
tion of  vaulted  ceilings ;  the  Romanic  influences  are  evident  in  the 
alternation  of  light  square  supports  and  piers  with  engaged  columns, 
in  the  form  of  the  capitals,  in  the  grouped  windows,  and,  upon  the 
exterior,  in  the  arched  corbel -table  and  the  dwarf  gallery  of  the 
apse.  The  latter  is  imitated  from  the  Cathedral  of  Ratzeburg,  be- 
ing thus  indirectly  influenced  by  the  Cathedral  of  Brunswick.  Ger- 
man models  seem  to  have  been  followed  in  the  other  Romanic 
edifices  of  Denmark,  as  at  Ribe,  Viborg,  and  Aarhuus;  the  alter- 


SCANDINAVIA. 


395 


is 


nate  system  of  Hildesheim,  with  two  columns  between  the  piers,  i 
introduced  in  the  Church  of  Westervick. 

Even  in  buildings  of  different  arrangement  no  foreign  influences 
are  perceptible  except  those  of  Germany.  The  cruciform  Byzan- 
tine plan  of  the  Church  of  Callundborg  in  Zealand,  built  towards 
the  end  of  the  twelfth  century,  can  hardly  be  connected  with  the 
service  of  the  Danish  body-guard  of  mercenaries  in  Constantino- 
ple, as  is  proved  by  the  many  towers  of  the  building:  one  of  rect- 
angular plan  surmounting  the  intersection  of  transept  and  nave, 
and  four  eight -sided  towers  above  the  polygonal  end  walls  of  the 
transepts.  The  simple  forms  of  the  capital,  and  other  peculiarities 
of  the  brick  construction,  rather  resemble  the  architectural  details 
of  the  North  German  Low- 
lands. The  same  is  the  case 
with  the  round  churches  of 
Denmark,  the  small  edifice 
of  Thorsaeger,  and  that 
upon  the  island  of  Born- 
holm,  which  is  like  the 
crypt  of  St.  Michael  of  Ful- 
da  in  the  introduction  of  a 
central  pier  as  the  support 
of  the  vaults.  To  this  class 

belong  also  the  round  build-     Fig.  244. — Old  Stone  Mill,  Newport,  Rhode  Island. 

ings  of  Greenland,  two   of 

which  have  been  preserved  in  Igalikko  and  Kakortok.  Perhaps 
we  may  add  to  this  list  the  circular  structure  known  as  the  Old 
Stone  Mill  near  Newport,  Rhode  Island  (Fig.  244),  which  is  said 
to  be  the  most  important  monument  of  an  occupation  of  America 
antedating  the  age  of  Columbus.  It  is  far  from  certain  that  this 
building  was  connected  with  the  mission  of  Bishop  Eric  to  Vine- 
land  in  the  year  1121.  The  drum  is  supported  upon  eight  columns 
connected  by  arches,  and  may  have  been  surrounded  by  a  concen- 
tric passage,  of  the  outer  wall  of  which,  however,  there  are  no  re- 
mains. There  is  no  evidence  of  its  style,  as  it  is  wholly  without 
ornamental  details.  Even  the  bases  and  capitals  are  of  a  simple 
rectangular  profile. 


396  ARCHITECTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

The  older  stone  buildings  of  Norway  date  to  the  reign  of  Harold 
Hardrada,  A.  D.  1047  to  IQ66,  and  that  of  Olaf  the  Peaceful,  A.  D. 
1066  to  1093.  The  most  ancient  churches  which  have  been  pre- 
served, whether  of  one-aisled  or  basilical  plan,  resemble  the  struct- 
ures of  Normandy  rather  than  those  of  Germany.  This  was  the 
case  with  the  basilicas  of  Aker  near  Christiania,  of  Granevolden  in 
Hadeland,  and  of  Stavanger,  the  ribbed  capitals  and  chevrons  of 
which  are  similar  in  design  to  those  of  Norman  and  English  portals. 
In  view  of  the  extended  commerce  of  Norway,  it  is  not  strange 
that  constructive  methods  should  occasionally  have  been  derived 
from  even  more  remote  countries.  Thus  the  barrel-vaults  and  bi- 
sected forms  of  the  church  at  Ringsaker  in  Hedemarken  would  be 
entirely  inexplicable  without  the  assumption  of  French  influences. 

As,  with  the  exception  of  buildings  of  wood,  Norway  affords  but 
scanty  materials  for  our  consideration  during  this  epoch,  it  is  not 
strange  that  the  monuments  of  Sweden  should  be  of  even  less  im- 
portance, this  country  not  having  been  Christianized  until  after  the 
middle  of  the  twelfth  century,  and  consequently  possessing  no 
churches  of  an  earlier  date.  The  later  one-aisled  structures  or  ba- 
silicas, with  the  clerestory  walls  supported  upon  piers,  such  as  those 
of  Sigtuna  on  the  lake  of  Maelar,  and  Alfuaster  in  East  Gothland, 
are  too  rude  and  wanting  in  ornamentation  to  be  treated  as  works 
of  art.  The  first  important  edifice  of  Sweden,  the  Church  of  Warn- 
heim,  was  built  towards  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century  by  Cister- 
cian immigrants,  and  is  consequently  without  interest  in  this  con- 
nection. It  may  be  assumed,  however,  that  as  this  structure  displays 
the  forms  of  the  German  Romanic  style,  Sweden  was  in  general 
more  influenced  by  the  artistic  culture  of  Germany  than  by  that 
of  Normandy.  The  commerce  of  the  country  had  been  chiefly 
directed  towards  the  coasts  of  the  Baltic  Ocean,  and  it  is  natural 
that  the  elements  of  civilization  should  have  been  introduced  from 
this  direction.  Thus  Sweden  was  brought  into  closer  relations  with 
Denmark  than  was  Norway,  notwithstanding  the  political  union  of 
the  two  latter  countries. 


Fig.  245. — Fragment  of  a  Mosaic  Pavement  in  the  Crypt  of  St.  Gereon  in  Cologne. 


PAINTING  OF  THE  ROMANIC  EPOCH. 

THROUGHOUT  the  Middle  Ages  architecture  was  of  greater 
importance  than  the  other  arts,  and  this  was  especially  the 
case  during  the  Romanic  epoch.  New  constructive  ideas,  new  dec- 
orative forms,  and  all  the  elements  of  a  new  architectural  style,  of 
great  variety  and  capability  of  development,  had  sprung  from  the 
combination  of  the  early  Christian  and  Byzantine  methods  of  build- 
ing. Paintings  and  sculptures,  on  the  other  hand,  remained  of 
subordinate  importance.  They  were  seldom  employed  otherwise 
than  as  adjuncts  to  the  works  of  architecture,  and  did  not  attain 
to  an  independent  position  until  a  later  period.  While  the  art  of 
building  in  almost  all  Christian  countries  was,  more  than  any  other 
phase  of  intellectual  activity,  distinctly  representative  of  national 
peculiarities,  painting  and  sculpture  remained  in  the  trammels  of 
a  monotonous  international  tradition. 

Methods  of  building  and  decorative  details  were  occasionally 
transferred  from  one  country  to  another, — Lombardic  features  ap- 
pearing in  France  and  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine;  those  of  Southern 
France  in  Spain,  those  of  Normandy  in  England.  But  the  truly 


39g  PAINTING  OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

national  styles,  such  as  those  of  Saxony,  the  Rhenish  countries, 
Lombardy,  Sicily,  the  Provence,  Burgundy,  and  Normandy,  were 
nevertheless  more  readily  distinguishable  in  the  works  of  architect- 
ure than  in  those  of  sculpture  and  painting,  the  latter  being  more 
universally  distributed  than  the  buildings,  and  less  dependent  upon 
the  conditions  of  climate  and  materials,  of  provincial  ideas  and  of 
local  traditions.  The  exchange  of  sculptures  and  paintings  between 
one  country  and  another  has  at  all  periods  been  readily  effected. 
Thus  Irish  methods  of  illumination  were  transferred  to  the  Lake  of 
Constance,  and  the  Byzantine  manner  of  painting  was  introduced  at 
Monte  Casino  and  at  the  court  of  Saxony  through  the  importation 
of  manuscripts  and  enamels,  and  through  the  travels  of  the  artists 
themselves. 

There  was  hence  an  even  greater  continuity  of  the  ancient  ar- 
tistic methods  in  these  branches  than  in  architecture.  The  art  of 
the  Byzantines  and  that  of  the  early  Christians,  as  revived  during 
the  Carolingian  epoch,  were  exclusively  employed  long  after  the 
tenth  century.  Neither  the  artists  of  the  courts  nor  those  of  the 
cloisters  attempted  to  introduce  new  forms.  In  like  manner  as  the 
manuscripts  were  copied,  the  illustrations  contained  in  them  were 
exactly  imitated.  The  masterpieces  of  Byzantine  and  Carolingian 
illuminators  remained  the  standards  of  taste,  and  it  was  rarely  that 
the  painters  of  later  generations  endeavored,  where  models  were 
lacking,  to  study  from  nature  itself.  In  these  few  cases  the  ener- 
getic attempt  to  convey  a  meaning  makes  up  for  the  extreme  awk- 
wardness of  the  new  features:  the  violent  action,  almost  amounting 
to  a  disjointed  caricature,  leaving  no  doubt  as  to  the  intention  of 
the  artist.  Correctness  of  form  was  rare,  beauty  almost  unknown. 
The  chief  attention  was  devoted  to  the  conventional  treatment  of 
the  pigments,  or  of  the  stone,  wood,  ivory,  or  metal  from  which  the 
work  was  carved.  It  is  characteristic  of  the  artistic  conceptions  of 
this  period  that,  in  contrast  to  the  painters'  book  of  Mount  Athos, 
which  chiefly  deals  with  the  composition  and  the  subjects  repre- 
sented, the  Northern  writings  upon  art  relate  solely  to  technical 
methods.  This  is  the  case  with  the  fragment  of  the  Anonymous 
Bernensis  of  the  ninth  century,  edited  by  H.  Hagen,  and  especially 
with  Theophilus,  Schedula  Diversarum  Artium,  edited  by  A.  Ilg, 


GERMANY.  399 

the  oldest  manuscript  of  which,  now  in  Wolfenbuettel,  is  referable 
to  the  twelfth  century. 

Throughout  the  Romanic  period  Germany  led  the  way  in  paint- 
ing as  well  as  in  architecture.  The  missionaries  of  St.  Gall,  Fulda, 
and  Corvey  carried  forward  the  work  begun  under  the  Carolingians, 
and  in  like  manner  the  pioneers  of  the  civilization  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  the  brethren  of  the  rapidly  increasing  convents,  developed 
an  activity  of  considerable  extent  and  success.  The  power  and 
also  the  pleasure  of  original  artistic  creation  was  increased  by  the 
assurance  of  furthering  pious  ends.  The  experience  of  Charle- 
magne had  already  proved  the  artistic,  and  especially  the  pictorial 
ornamentation  of  places  of  worship  to  be  one  of  the  most  important 
means  of  promoting  Occidental  civilization. 

As  early  as  the  ninth  century  wall-paintings  were  very  com- 
monly introduced  into  the  churches,  often  in  extended  series  of  pict- 
ures, such  as  those  described  in  detail  by  Alcuin,  Bernowin,  Ermol- 
dus,  Nigellus,  Walafried  Strabo,  and  other  contemporary  writers. 
After  the  time  of  Charlemagne  the  slow  and  difficult  art  of  mosaic 
inlaying  was  but  little  practised,  such  pavements  as  those  of  Hildes- 
heim  and  Cologne  being  exceptional.  Little  is  known  concerning 
the  mosaic  pavement  of  Bernward,  which  was  destroyed  in  later 
times,  but  it  may  perhaps  be  assumed  that  the  rough  cement  floor 
of  dark  color  in  the  Cathedral  of  Hildesheim,  dating  to  1122,  was 
similar  to  it  in  conventional  treatment.  The  remnants  of  pavement 
in  the  crypt  of  St.  Gereon  in  Cologne  (Fig.  245)  are  decidedly  infe- 
rior to  the  ornamental  work  executed  in  various  parts  of  Italy  at 
this  period.  Mural  paintings  were  more  extensively  employed,  but 
were  of  extreme  simplicity,  consisting  chiefly  of  drawings  in  outline, 
the  local  tones  of  which  were  applied  upon  the  dry  wall  with  but 
little  attempt  at  modelling. 

As  these  mural  paintings  seem  never  to  have  been  restored,  and 
are  generally  of  such  hasty  and  superficial  execution  that  the  Origi- 
nal designers  cannot  have  been  long  employed  upon  them,  it  is  not 
to  be  assumed  that  every  cloister  had  its  own  staff  of  painters  for 
this  kind  of  work,  as  had  been  the  case  in  the  execution  of  minia- 
tures. It  is  probable  that  these  methods  were  cultivated  only  in  a 
small  number  of  convents,  the  artists  who  had  been  trained  in  these 


400  PAINTING   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

establishments  being  called  as  journeymen  to  other  places.  Schools 
of  painting  of  this  kind  seem  to  have  existed  in  Saxony  and  in 
some  of  the  Rhenish  provinces.  The  only  one,  however,  of  which 
we  have  definite  historical  information  is  that  upon  the  Island  of 
Reichenau,  in  the  Lake  of  Constance  (Augia  Dives),  where,  in  the 
ninth  and  tenth  centuries,  several  stone  churches  and  convents  had 
been  erected  in  place  of  the  wooden  church  and  hermitage  founded 
in  the  eighth  century  by  St.  Pirminius.  Even  St.  Gall,  which,  after 
the  ninth  century,  was  celebrated  for  its  school  of  illuminators,  em- 
ployed artists  from  Reichenau  to  execute  the  mural  decorations  in 
the  house  of  the  abbot.  From  this  it  may  be  argued  that  St.  Gall 
itself  was  not  provided  with  painters  skilled  in  this  branch  of  art. 
Two  of  the  artists  of  Reichenau,  as  will  later  appear,  were,  towards 
the  end  of  the  tenth  century,  engaged  upon  the  magnificent  Codex 
of  Treves ;  it  is  probable  also  that  members  of  this  fraternity  were 
at  about  this  time  employed  upon  the  decorations  of  the  Church 
of  Petershausen  near  Constance.  St.  George  in  Oberzell,  upon  the 
Island  of  Reichenau  itself,  was  rebuilt  and  enlarged  between  984 
and  990,  and  the  paintings  upon  its  interior  walls  *  probably  date 
to  this  period.  These  are  the  oldest  monumental  paintings  of  this 
age  which  have  been  preserved  in  Germany. 

It  is  evident  from  the  total  lack  of  architectural  memberment  in 
the  walls  that  the  entire  nave  was  built  with  reference  to  mural 
decoration.  The  spandrels  of  the  arcades  are  decorated  with  me- 
dallion portraits  of  abbots  and  prophets,  originally  six  upon  each 
side.  Above  these  is  a  broad  frieze  with  representations  of  the 
Miracles  of  Christ :  upon  the  southern  wall  the  Awakening  of  Laz- 
arus (Fig.  246),  of  the  Daughter  of  Jairus,  and  of  the  Son  of  the 
Widow  of  Nain,  the  Healing  of  the  Woman  with  the  issue  of  blood, 
and  the  Cleansing  of  the  Leper;  upon  the  northern,  the  Casting  out 
of  the  Unclean  spirit,  the  Stilling  of  the  Tempest,  the  Healing  of  the 
Man*with  the  dropsy,  and  of  the  Man  born  blind.  The  narrow  ver- 
tical bands  of  ornament  which  separate  the  pictures  exhibit  a  com- 


*  F.  X.  Kraus,  Die  Wandgemalde  in  der  S.  Georgskirche  zu  Oberzell  auf  der  Reiche- 
nau. Freiburg,  1884. — A.  Springer,  Die  deutsche  Kunst  im  10.  Jahrhundert.  West- 
deutsche  Zeitschrift  fur  Geschichte  und  Kunst.  III.  Trier,  1884. 


GERMANY. 


401 


bination  of  the  Carolingian  and  Romanic  styles,  while  the  horizon- 
tal borders  of  frets  drawn  in  perspective  have  a  striking  resemblance 
to  the  patterns  which  occur  in  antique  pavements,*  in  Etruscan 
wall  paintings,f  and  in  the  Christian  friezes  of  France  and  Italy, 
such  as  those  of  the  Baptistery  of  Poitiers,  St.  Sernin  in  Toulouse, 
St.  Victor  at  Fontvielle  near  Aries,  and  S.  Maria  la  Libera  at  Foro- 
claudio.  The  spaces  between  the  windows  are  occupied  by  single 
figures  of  the  apostles.  There  is  no  proof  that  these  paintings 
were  executed  al  fresco.  The  colors  are  bright  and  well  chosen, 
being  quite  free  from  the  brown  and  olive  tints  of  the  Byzan- 


Fig.  246. — The  Awakening  of  Lazarus.     Wall  Painting  at  Oberzell. 

tines ;  neither  do  the  forms  or  the  composition  betray  the  influence 
of  Byzantium.  There  are  no  traces  of  ceremonial  rigidity  and  con- 
ventionalism, the  action  being  full  of  life,  and  the  draperies  natural. 
Early  Christian  and  particularly  Carolingian  reminiscences  may  be 
recognized,  but  the  awkward  laboriousness  of  those  works  has  been 
in  great  measure  overcome.  A  certain  technical  skill  is  evident, 
together  with  a  facile  and  careless  execution. 


*  Such,  for  instance,  as  that  shown  in  Zahn,  Pompeii,  III.  16. 
f  Compare  Mon.  d.  Inst.  d.  C.  A.,  VI. 
26 


402 


PAINTING   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


The  representation  of  the  Last  Judgment  (Fig.  247)  is  but  little 
more  recent.  Its  similarity  to  the  mosaics  of  the  early  Christian 
basilicas  is  probably  due  to  the  subject,  as  well  as  to  the  smaller 
number  of  figures.  Unfortunately,  the  effect  of  the  whole  is  im- 
paired by  its  bad  state  of  preservation,  especially  by  the  flesh  tints 
having  become  black  through  a  decomposition  of  the  red  lead. 

The  mural  paintings  in  Oberzell  are  the  more  important  as  they 
are  the  only  ones  worthy  of  mention,  remaining  in  Germany  from 
the  period  to  which  they  belong.  We  have  especially  to  regret 


Fig.  247.— The  Last  Judgment.     Wall  Painting  at  Oberzell. 

the  loss  of  the  battle-piece  which  was  executed  by  order  of  King 
Henry  I.,  in  the  upper  hall  of  his  palace  at  Merseburg,  in  com- 
memoration of  the  battle  against  the  Hungarians  near  Riet  on  the 
Unstrut,  in  the  year  933.  It  may,  however,  be  assumed  that  this 
work  was  similar  in  character  to  the  historical  wall  painting  of 
Charlemagne  in  the  imperial  palace  at  Ingelheim,  even  as  these  had 
followed  the  style  of  the  decorations  in  Queen  Theodelinde's  palace 
at  Monza.  The  half -figures  of  saints  in  the  ground -floor  of  the 
tower  of  Nonnberg  in  Salzburg,  dating  to  the  eleventh  century,  are 
more  Byzantine  in  conception  and  form  than  those  of  Reichenau  ; 


GERMANY. 


this  is  probably  due  not  only  to  the  nature  of  the  subject,  but  also 
to  the  intimate  relations  of  Salzburg  with  Venetian  culture. 

Better  examples  than  those  of  the  mural  painting  of  the  tenth 
and  eleventh  centuries  at  Oberzell,  are  afforded  for  the  twelfth  by 
the  decorations  of  the  Lower  Church  of  Schwarzrheindorf,  near 
Bonn,  and  by  the  painting  of  the  ceiling  of  the  chapter-house  in 
the  Abbey  of  Brauweiler  near  Cologne.*  Both  of  these  may  per- 
haps  be  referred  to  a  school  of  Cologne  artists.  Even  in  regard  to 
the  subject,  the  series  of  pictures  in  Schwarzrheindorf,  dating  to 
about  the  year  1150,  is  of  great  importance.  The  representation 
of  Christ  in  the  act  of  teaching,  surrounded  by  two  groups  of 


Fig.  248. — Painting  of  the  Apse  of  the  Lower  Church  of  Schwarzrheindorf. 

apostles,  in  the  conch  of  the  chief  apse  (Fig:  248),  are  of  a  devout 
and  even  ecstatic  effect,  heightened  as  it  is  by  scenes  of  the  vis- 
ion of  Ezekiel,  which  ornament  the  compartments  of  the  vaults  of 
the  choir,  and  of  the  intersection  of  transept  and  nave.  To  this 
were  added,  in  the  three  apses  of  the  transept  and  western  end, 
representations  of  the  life  of  Christ :  the  driving  out  of  the  sell- 
ers and  buyers  from  the  Temple,  the  Transfiguration,  and  the  Cru- 
cifixion, with  Pilate  washing  his  hands.  In  technical  respects,  and 
especially  in  the  employment  of  a  blue  ground,  these  paintings 


*  E.  aus'm  Weerth,  Wandmalereien  des  Mittelalters  in  den  Rheinlanden.      Leipzig. 
Without  date. 


PAINTING  OF   THE   ROMANIC    EPOCH. 

are  similar  to  those  of  Oberzell.  In  composition,  however,  as  well 
as  in  grouping  and  in  artistic  feeling,  they  are  far  superior.  The 
drapery,  notwithstanding  some  conventionalism,  is  more  tastefully 
disposed,  and  clearly  displays  the  study  of  the  early  Christian  works 
of  the  West.  The  twenty-four  paintings  upon  the  vaults  of  the  hall 
of  the  chapter-house  in  Brauweiler,  illustrating  scenes  from  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments  and  the  lives  of  the  saints,  exhibit  greater 
freedom,  but  less  power  of  expression,  while  a  certain  weakness  in 
the  composition  betrays  a  want  of  feeling  for  style.  The  paintings 
in  the  apse  of  the  choir  in  the  Minster  of  St.  Patroclus  at  Soest, 
dating  to  1166,  contain  only  single  figures:  in  the  conch,  Christ  in 
a  glory,  with  the  symbols  of  the  Evangelists  and  six  saints,  on  the 
wall  of  the  apse,  four  figures  of  kings.  Similar  in  character  are  the 
decorations  in  the  choir  of  St.  Kilian  at  Luegde,  near  Pyrmont. 
The  paintings  in  the  western  transept  of  the  Cathedral  at  Muenster, 
representing  the  people  of  Friesland  bringing  votive  offerings  to 
their  patron  St.  Paul,  show  a  finer  composition,  but  less  understand- 
ing of  form. 

The  extensive  mural  paintings  in  the  choir  and  transept  of  the 
Cathedral  of  Brunswick  are  the  most  important  examples  of  this 
art  referable  to  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century,  as  well  as 
the  most  complete  series  of  mediaeval  wall  decorations.  The  upper 
part  of  the  building,  it  is  true,  belongs  to  the  transitional  period, 
and  the  paintings  also  show  something  of  the  grace  and  attenuation 
of  Gothic  forms.  Still,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  this  method  of 
covering  the  entire  wall  with  paintings  was  practised  in  Germany 
only  during  the  Romanic  epoch,  and  the  scenes  themselves  betray 
no  traces  of  Gothic  architectural  details.  This  is  also  the  case  with 
the  pictures  in  the  Choir  of  the  Nuns  in  the  Cathedral  of  Gurk  in 
Carinthia,  which,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  portraits  of  the  found- 
ers under  the  throne  of  the  Virgin,  can  hardly  have  been  painted 
before  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century. 

It  may  be  assumed  that  mural  paintings  were  prevalent,  espe- 
cially in  the  choir,  not  only  during  the  period  when  the  walls  were 
without  architectural  memberment,  but  also  in  later  buildings  of 
simpler  plan.  Traces  of  painting  have  been  found  not  alone  in 
the  larger  churches,  as  in  the  Upper  Minster  at  Ratisbon,  and  at 


GERMANY. 


405 


Lambach  in  Austria,  but  even  in  the  smallest  village  churches 
of  Germany.  They  are  particularly  frequent  in  the  buildings  of 
Westphalia,  as  at  Methler,  Ohle,  Werdohl,  Plettenberg,  Huesten, 
Heggen,  Froendenberg,  Opherdicke,  Castrop,  Ahlen,  and  Senden- 
burg,  but  they  occur  also  in  other  places,  as,  for  instance,  at  Per- 
schen  and  Keferloh  in  Bavaria. 

Even  fewer  of  the  paintings  upon  the  panels  of  the  horizontal 
wooden  ceilings  in  the  basilicas  have  been  preserved.  As  the  ma- 
terial of  these  ceilings  was  less  durable  than  that  of  the  walls  it  was 
necessary  to  renew  them  more  frequently,  and  in  later  times  they 


Fig-  249. — Adam  and  Eve.     Painting  upon  the  Ceiling  of  St.  Michael  in  Hildesheim. 

were  generally  replaced  by  vaulted  constructions.  The  most  impor- 
tant and  best  preserved  work  of  the  kind,  the  ceiling  of  St.  Michael 
in  Hildesheim,  is  of  comparatively  recent  date,  having  been  painted 
in  1 1 86.  The  pictures  upon  it  represent  the  genealogy  of  Christ, 
and  are  so  disposed  that  the  central  panels  are  filled  by  the  principal 
groups:  Adam  and  Eve  under  the  Tree  of  Knowledge  (Fig.  249), 
Jesse  sleeping  and  the  four  kings  of  his  line,  and  Christ  with  the 
Virgin.  In  the  smaller  spaces  upon  each  side  are  representations 
of  the  Evangelists,  of  the  Rivers  of  Paradise,  etc.,  while  the  whole 
is  surrounded  by  medallions  containing  breast  -  pieces  of  the  Holy 


406  PAINTING  OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

companionship.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  these  paintings,  in  com- 
position and  drawing,  are  decidedly  superior  to  the  conventional 
works  of  Byzantine  art,  and  at  times  display  a  truth  to  nature,  and 
even  a  beauty  of  form,  equally  removed  from  the  mummy-like  dry- 
ness  and  stiffness  of  the  style  of  the  Eastern  empire  and  from  the 
rude  clumsiness  of  the  Carolingian  methods.  The  greatest  advance 
is  perceptible  in  the  ornamental  parts  of  the  composition,  the  char- 
acteristics of  which  are  referable  rather  to  the  miniature  paintings 
of  this  age  than  to  any  architectural  precedents,  and,  contrary  to 
the  somewhat  crude  attempts  at  Oberzell,  are  of  more  tasteful  Ro- 
manic designs:  the  conventionalized  vines  and  foliage  helping  over 
many  of  the  difficulties,  such  as  those  presented  to  the  artist  by 
trees  and  landscape  backgrounds.  A  like  artistic  importance  could 
hardly  have  been  expected  in  the  paintings  upon  the  ceiling  in  the 
Church  at  Zillis  in  Graubuenden,  of  about  the  same  period,  in  view 
of  their  subordinate  character  and  the  remoteness  of  the  place  in 
which  they  were  executed.  The  one  hundred  and  fifty-three  repre- 
sentations, upon  small  panels,  are  rude  and  awkward,  both  in  the 
figures  and  in  the  ornamental  details. 

Paintings  upon  detached  panels,*  intended  for  any  other  pur- 
pose than  decorations  to  be  seen  at  a  distance,  were  rare  in  Ger- 
many before  the  thirteenth  century.  The  earliest  of  those  known 
were  executed  for  antependiums,  or  panels  before  altar  -  tables ; 
these  furnishings,  however,  were  more  frequently  of  stone  or  met- 
al, or  of  linen  or  woollen  stuffs,  either  embroidered  or  woven. 
The  antependium  painted  upon  wood,  in  the  Convent  of  St.  Wal- 
purgis  at  Soest,  now  in  the  Provincial  Museum  at  Muenster,  may 
perhaps  be  referred  to  the  latter  part  of  the  twelfth  century. 
The  conventional  type  of  the  figures  upon  gold  ground  betrays 
the  influence  of  beaten  metal -work.  The  embarrassment  which 
always  attends  first  experiments  with  any  new  and  unaccustomed 
technical  process  is  plainly  perceptible,  still,  the  heads  and  the 
hands  are  by  no  means  wanting  in  beauty  of  form  (Fig.  250). 
The  painted  antependium  at  Luene,  near  Lueneburg,  is  of  a  simi- 
lar style. 

*  H.  v.  Zuydewyk,  Die  alteste  Tafelmalerei  Westphalens.     MUnster,  1882. 


GERMANY. 


407 


Of  higher  artistic  character  is  the  older  of  the  two  altar-pieces 
from  the  Wiesenkirche  at  Soest,  now  in  the  Berlin  Museum  (No. 
12160).  This  work  was  not  executed  before  the  thirteenth  century, 
and  is  the  earliest  remaining  example  of  the  painted  altars  which  in 
later  times  became  of  such  importance.  It  is  a  triptych,  the  side 
wings  being  immovable,  is  painted  on  parchment  mounted  upon  oak 
boards,  and  has  a  gold  background.  The  middle  panel  represents 
the  crucifixion  :  on  the  left,  Christ  before  Caiaphas,  on  the  right,  the 
two  Marys  at  the  Sepulchre.  Traits  are  here  met  with  similar  to 
those  which  appear  a  century  and  a  half  later  in  the  more  developed 
panel  painting  of  Cologne 
and  Flanders.  The  rude- 
ness peculiar  to  the  illus- 
trations of  similar  sub- 
jects in  the  manuscripts, 
from  the  Carolingian  pe- 
riod to  the  Codex  Eg- 

o 

berti,  has    been    in   great 
measure    overcome.      In- 


stead of  the  meagre  com- 
position which  is  charac- 
teristic of  monumental 
paintings  even  as  recent 
as  those  of  Schwarzrhein- 
dorf  and  Brauweiler,  this 
work  exhibits  decidedly 

more  feeling  for  perspective  and  a  finer  effect  of  grouping.  But  the 
technical  execution  is  still  too  faulty,  the  knowledge  of  form  and 
action  too  uncertain,  the  feeling  for  nature  too  undeveloped,  to  war- 
rant the  assertion  that  the  characteristic  limitations  of  the  previous 
period  had  been  overcome.  The  other  triptych  of  the  same  church 
(Fig.  251),  also  in  the  Berlin  Museum  (No.  1216^),  is  of  a  later  date 
and  of  less  importance.  In  the  centre  is  the  Trinity,  upon  the  right 
wing  the  Virgin,  upon  the  left  St.  John,  all  with  gold  backgrounds. 
The  slender  forms  and  the  angular  superabundant  folds  of  the  flut- 
tering draperies  indicate  the  approach  of  a  new  era,  the  conceptions 
of  which  differ  vastly  from  those  of  the  severe  and  unpretentious 


Fig.  250. — The  Virgin.    Antependium  of  St.  Walpur- 
gis  in  Soest,  now  in  the  Museum  in  Muenster. 


40g  PAINTING   OF   THE   ROMANIC  EPOCH, 

designer  of  the  antependium  and  of  the  before  -  mentioned  altar- 
piece. 

The  glass  painting  of  the  Romanic  epoch  deserves  attention, 
rather  as  a  forerunner  of  the  future  greatness  of  this  art  than  be- 
cause of  any  intrinsic  merit.  Colored  decorations  of  this  kind  ap- 
pear to  be  as  old  as  the  employment  of  glass  for  windows.  The 
first  mention  of  the  representation  of  figures  in  stained  glass  is  that 
of  the  Church  of  St.  Remy  at  Rheims,  into  the  windows  of  which 
Bishop  Adalbero,  a  German,  and  formerly  canon  of  Metz,  introduced, 
between  968  and  989,  various  legendary  scenes.*  In  Germany  we 


Fig.  251.  —Altar-piece  from  the  Wiesenkirche  in  Soest,  now  in  the  Museum  of  Berlin. 

find  the  first  notice  of  this  art  in  a  letter  of  Gozbert,  Abbot  of  Te- 
gernsee,  A.D.  983  to  1001,  to  Count  Arnold,  patron  of  the  convent ; 
but  the  expression  "  many  colored  panes  "  leaves  us  in  doubt  as  to 
whether  these  decorations  were  of  figures  or  merely  geometrical 
patterns.  The  colored  window  draperies,  embroidered  or  woven, 
which  seem  to  have  been  common  before  the  time  of  glazing,  were 
of  great  influence  in  the  introduction  of  glass  painting.  This  influ- 
ence may  have  been  supplemented  by  that  of  the  previous  works  in 

*  Pertz,  Monumenta,  V.,  page  613. 


GERMANY. 


409 


mosaic  and  enamel,  the  characteristics  of  the  former  appearing  in 
the  putting  together  of  small  pieces  of  stained  glass,  and  of  the  lat- 
ter in  the  handling  of  the  colors.  The  technical  treatment  long 
continued  very  simple,  the  outlines  being  formed  by  the  leadings, 
and  the  details,  without  regard  to  local  color, 
being  indicated  by  the  blackish-brown  lines  of  a 
flux  of  oxide  of  copper,  known  as  black  solder. 

The  oldest  remaining  examples  are  the  five 
windows  with  figures  of  the  prophets  in  the 
Cathedral  of  Augsburg,  which  were  probably  ex- 
ecuted soon  after  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury (Fig.  252).  They  are  of  an  exceedingly  rude 
style,  unmistakably  influenced  by  the  designs  of 
Byzantine  tapestry.  The  glass  paintings  in  the 
Chapel  of  St.  Sebastian,  of  Christ,  of  St.  Peter 
and  St.  Paul,  at  Neuweiler  in  Alsace,  are  similar 
in  character  but  somewhat  later.  The  specimens 
of  this  art  in  the  Old  Minster  at  Strasburg,  and 
the  figures  of  princes  in  the  chapter -hall  of  the 
Cistercian  Convent  of  Heiligenkreuz,  though  a 
century  later,  and  certainly  of  finer  and  more 
tasteful  execution,  still  show  no  change  in  style. 

A  notable  advance,  however,  appears  in  Co- 
logne and  its  vicinity,  doubtless  in  connection 
with  the  improvement  made  in  mural  painting, 
this  progress  being,  perhaps,  somewhat  due  to 
the  influence  of  France.  The  glass  paintings  in 
the  niches  of  the  choir  in  St.  Patroclus  at  Soest 
are  unfortunately  in  so  bad  a  state  of  preserva- 
tion that  no  satisfactory  judgment  can  be  passed 
upon  them.  The  magnificent  windows  of  St. 
Cunibert  in  Cologne,  of  the  Church  of  Legden  in 
Westphalia,  and  of  St.  Maternianus  at  Buecken  in  Hanover  (Fig. 
253),  all  date  from  the  transitional  period, — the  middle  of  the  thir- 
teenth century.  In  composition  and  technical  treatment  they  are 
related  equally  to  that  school  which  executed  the  windows  in  the 
Church  of  St.  Denis,  built  by  the  abbot  Suger,  and  to  the  mural 


Fig.  252. — Window  of 
Stained  Glass  in  the 
Cathedral  of  Augs- 
burg. 


4io 


PAINTING   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


painting  in  the  Church  of  St.  Michael  at  Hildesheim.  Painting  in 
general  followed  but  slowly  the  advances  made  in  architecture,  and 
that  upon  glass  was  especially  antiquated  in  style.  Like  the  win- 
dows  of  stained  glass  in  the  first  Gothic  building  of  Suger,  the  paint- 
ings of  the  transitional  epoch  in  Germany  seldom  exhibit  pointed 
forms  in  the  architectural  details. 

The  art  of  weaving  and  embroidering  figures  was,  at  least  in 
Germany,  less  frequently  practised  for  wall  tapestries  than  for  litur- 


Fig.  253. — Glass  Painting  from  the  Middle  Window  of  the  Choir  of  the 
Church  of  St.  Maternianus,  Buecken. 

gic  garments.  The  earliest  and  best  of  such  works  were  Byzantine 
or  Oriental,  and  were  mostly  imported  from  Palermo.  The  antepen- 
diums,  choir  tapestries  or  dorsels,  and  the  hangings  of  the  altar  were, 
however,  often  executed  by  native  monks  and  nuns,  or  even  by 
profane  hands.  Among  the  few  German  works  of  this  kind  which 
have  been  preserved,  the  most  important  are  the  dorsels  from  Qued- 
linburg,  with  representations  of  the  nuptials  of  Philolpgia  and  Mer- 
cury, according  to  the  allegory  of  Marcianus  Capella,  and  dating  to 
the  end  of  the  twelfth  century  (Fig.  254).  They  may  have  been 


GERMANY.  .  l  l 

worked  for  some  unconsecrated  hall,  such  as  the  Caminatas,  which 
were  common  in  the  palaces  built  of  wood  as  well  as  those  of  stone. 
The  chief  information  in  regard  to  Romanic  painting  in  Ger- 
many is  to  be  obtained  from  the  illuminated  manuscripts.*  These 
were  quite  as  universal  as  mural  decorations,  and,  owing  to  the  nat- 
ure of  their  materials,  far  more  of  them  have  been  preserved.  The 
art  of  miniature  painting  was  practised  exclusively  by  the  monks,  as, 
indeed,  all  the  culture  of  the  Romanic  epoch  in  Germany  was  main- 
tained by  the  clergy.  When  persons  of  distinction,  either  priestly 


Fig.  254. — Woven  Dorsel  from  Quedlinburg. 

or  secular,  appear  in  the  inscriptions,  they  are  generally  to  be  con- 
sidered as  patrons  rather  than  as  artists,  and  the  word  "  fecit "  in 
the  signature  is  in  such  cases  to  be  understood  as  "  fieri  fecit." 
Even  the  artistic  activity  of  Bernward  of  Hildesheim,  after  he  be- 
came bishop,  was  more  that  of  a  maecenas  and  director  than  that 
of  a  practical  designer. 

The  Ottos  had  continued  the  protection  of  the  arts  formerly 

*  A.  Springer,  Die  Psalterillustrationen  im  friiheren  Mittelalter,  mit  besonderer  Rlick- 
sicht  auf  den  Utrechtspsalter.  Abh.  d.  phil.  hist.  A.  d.  k.  sachs.  Ges.  d.  Wiss.  Leipzig, 
1880,  VIII.— F.  X.  Kraus,  Die  Miniaturen  des  Codex  Egberti  in  der  Stadtbibliothek  zu 
Trier.  Freiburg,  1884. 


PAINTING  OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

afforded  by  the  Carolingians,  and  their  works  of  architecture,  mural 
painting,  and  illuminated  manuscripts  are  of  much  the  same  charac- 
ter as  those  of  their  predecessors.  The  connection  of  the  imperial 
court  of  Germany  with  Rome  was  as  favorable  to  classic  studies  at 
this  epoch  as  it  had  been  in  that  of  Charlemagne,  but  these  branches 
were  not  pursued  with  thoroughness  and  understanding  until  the 
time  of  the  later  Hohenstaufens.  Still,  the  more  remote  courts  and 
convents  were  raised  above  the  state  of  barbarism  into  which  they 
had  fallen  under  the  Carolingians.  Byzantine  culture  was  fostered 
by  the  marriage  of  Otto  II.  with  Theophano,  a  princess  of  the  East- 
ern empire,  and  by  the  betrothal  of  his  aunt,  the  duchess  Hedwig 
of  Suabia,  to  the  Byzantine  prince  Constantine ;  as  also  by  the  fact 
that  an  uncle  of  Otto,  Bruno  of  Cologne,  held  a  high  office  in  the 
imperial  government.  All  these  influences,  however,  were  but  im- 
perfectly understood,  and  with  the  growth  of  national  independence 
and  the  awakening  consciousness  of  individual  modes  of  expression 
they  could  be  only  partially  and  superficially  received.  As  a  rule, 
native  workmen  were  engaged  ;  the  employment  of  foreigners — 
such,  for  instance,  as  John  the  Italian  by  Otto  III.,  for  the  decora- 
tion of  the  Minster  of  Aix-la-Chapelle — was  exceptional. 

In  general  it  may  be  said  that  the  illuminations,  though  inferior 
in  artistic  respects,  display  a  greater  independence  than  do  the  mon- 
umental paintings.  The  illustration  of  books  offered  new  subjects 
for  which  there  was  no  precedent,  and  also  employment  for  self- 
taught  artists  with  little  regular  training,  or,  indeed,  dilettanti  who 
followed  their  own  instincts  and  conceptions.  And  this  independ- 
ence was  expressed  with  more  life  and  truthfulness  in  small,  un- 
pretentious works  than  in  the  elaborate  codices  for  ecclesiastical 
and  secular  princes,  in  which  it  freed  itself  but  slowly  from  tech- 
nical constraint  and  the  conventionalities  of  composition. 

A  partial  retention  of  the  Carolingian  methods  is  evident  in 
some  of  the  most  magnificent  examples  of  the  tenth  century.  The 
most  important  among  the  thirty  or  more  codices  of  this  period  in 
the  middle  and  lower  Rhenish  countries  is  that  of  Egbert  in  the 
Town  Library  of  Treves.*  This  work,  having  been  executed  for 

*  K.  Lamprecht,  Bonner  Jahrbuch.     Heft  LXXIV. 


GERMANY. 

Archbishop  Egbert  of  Treves,  between  977  and  993,  by  two  illumi- 
nators of  Reichenau,  Keraldus  and  Heribertus,  suggests  a  compari- 
son with  the  almost  contemporaneous  mural  paintings  of  Reichenau. 
Contrasted  with  the  trained  skill  of  the  latter  works  this  manuscript 
betrays  weakness,  and  an  embarrassed  hesitancy  between  conflicting 
principles  of  design.  The  dedicatory  pages  and  pictures  of  the 
Evangelists  show  a  closer  connection  with  the  old  Byzantine  style 
than  do  the  single  figures  in  the  before-mentioned  mural  paintings ; 
and  there  is  far  more  of  the  Byzantine  stiffness  in  the  portrait  of 
the  archbishop  than  appears  in  the  portraits  of  Charles  the  Bald  in 
the  Carolingian  manuscripts,  while  the  ornamentations  of  the  bor- 
der are  a  whimsical  combination  of  Carolingian  patterns.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  representations  from  the  gospels,  with  inferior  skill 
in  the  drawing  and  composition,  and  less  knowledge  of  form  than 
the  mural  paintings,  are  yet  more  direct  and  dramatic,  leaving  no 
doubt  as  to  the  nature  of  the  subject.  For  instance,  the  gestures 
of  the  Shepherds  listening  tc  the  message  of  the  Angel  are  very  ex- 
pressive ;  the  scene  of  Christ  among  the  Doctors  in  the  Temple  is 
exceedingly  characteristic,  as  are  also  the  illustrations  of  the  Mira- 
cle at  Cana,  the  Cleansing  of  the  Leper,  the  affrighted  Call  to  the 
sleeping  Jesus  in  the  Tempest,  the  Woman  taken  in  Adultery,  the 
Healing  of  the  Blind  (Fig.  255),  the  Washing  of  the  Feet,  the  De- 
nial of  Peter,  and  the  Descent  from  the  Cross,  etc. ;  an  insufficient 
knowledge  of  form,  however,  made  it  impossible  for  the  artist  to 
master  such  compositions  as  the  Murder  of  the  Innocents. 

A  closer  resemblance  to  the  artistic  methods  of  the  Carolingian 
epoch  is  evident  in  the  Gospel  dating  to  the  age  of  Otto  II.,  now 
in  the  National  Library  of  Paris  (No.  8851),  with  the  portraits  of  the 
first  three  Saxon  kings  and  the  Evangelists ;  in  the  Psalter  of  Civi- 
dale,  dedicated  in  A.  D.  981  to  the  archbishop  Egbert  of  Treves  by 
Ruodprecht,  and  removed  to  Cividale  by  the  patriarch  Bertold,  the 
uncle  of  St.  Elizabeth  ;  and  in  the  copy  of  the  gospels,  executed  be- 
tween 980  and  1018  for  Bishop  Henry  of  Wurzburg,  and  now  in  the 
University  Library  of  that  place  (M.  Perg.  Theol.,  No.  661).  In  the 
Gospel  now  in  Gotha,  illuminated  by  order  of  Theophano  during 
her  regency  for  Otto  III.,  A.  D.  983  to  991,  and  removed  by  the  lat- 
ter to  Echternach,  the  influence  of  Byzantium,  which  appears  to- 


4H 


PAINTING   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


gather  with  many  naive  and  life-like  traits,  is  readily  accounted  for 
by  the  nationality  of  the  queen  (Fig.  256).  The  same  considera- 
tions explain  the  introduction  of  Greek  elements  into  the  manu- 
scripts of  Otto  III.  and  Henry  II.,  at  a  time  when  they  were  almost 
entirely  lacking  in  the  works  of  the  monks  of  Reichenau  (compare 
the  dedicatory  illustration  in  the  Gospel  in  the  Library  of  Munich, 

Cim.  58). 

The  character  of  the  art  at  the  court  of  the  last  Saxon  emperor 
is  best  represented  by  the  school  of  illumination  in  Ratisbon,  the 
works  of  which,  especially  those  now  in  Munich  and  Bamberg,  prove 


F'g-  255. — The  Healing  of  the  Blind.     Miniature  of  the  Codex  Egberti,  Treves. 

it  to  have  been  the  most  important  of  that  period  in  Germany.* 
Ratisbon,  the  favorite  residence  of  Henry  II., — already  in  possession 
of  the  Codex  Aureus  of  Charles  the  Bald,  one  of  the  finest  examples 
of  Carolingian  miniature  painting, — was  further  enriched  by  receiving 
the  books  of  Otto  III.  This  led  to  the  combination  of  Carolingian 
traditions  with  the  Byzantine  methods  evident  in  the  manuscripts 
of  Otto  III.  The  study  of  these  models  enabled  the  artists,  after 


*  B.  Riehl,  Zur  Bayrischen  Kunstgeschichte.  I. — Die  altesten  Denkmale  der  Malerei. 
Stuttgart,  1885. 


GERMANY. 


415 


having  acquired  the  necessary  training,  to  undertake  tasks  of  inde- 
pendent importance.  This  is  the  character  not  only  of  the  works 
given  by  Henry  II.  to  Bamberg,  but  of  those  executed  for  the  im- 
perial court  of  that  age.  The  missal  of  Henry  II.,  now  in  the 
Library  of  Munich  (Cim.  60),— referable  with  certainty,  from  the  des- 
ignation of  that  ruler  as  "  king,"  to  the  years  between  1002  and 
1014,— shows  throughout,  and  especially  in  the  initials,  Carolingian 
motives,  often  in  direct  imitation  of  the  before-mentioned  models. 
But  the  strictness  of  the  Byzantine  method  appears  in  place  of 
the  lax  forms  of  the  Carolingians,  sharp  precision  instead  of  un- 


Fig.  256. — The  Healing  of  Cripples  and  Lepers.     From  the  Codex  of  Echternach  in 

Gotha. 

certain  drawing,  and  clear  tones  in  place  of  dark  and  muddy  colors. 
The  second  dedicatory  picture,  for  instance,  is  an  almost  exact 
copy  of  that  in  the  Codex  Aureus  of  Charles  the  Bald,  although 
in  technical  execution  it  is  decidedly  Byzantine.  A  high  degree 
of  artistic  ability  is  also  noticeable  in  independent  compositions,  as 
in  the  first  dedicatory  picture,  which  represents  the  king  standing, 
receiving  from  Christ  the  crown,  and  from  two  angels  the  sword 
and  the  staff  of  the  cross,  while  his  arms  are  supported  by  St. 
Ulrich  and  St.  Emmeramnus,  the  patron  saints  of  Augsburg  and 
Ratisbon  (Fig.  257).  Similar  in  character  are  the  copies  of  the 
gospels  in  Munich  (Cim.  57),  and  in  Bamberg  (A.  11,46),  and  the 


4,g  PAINTING   OF   THE    ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

Codex  of  the  Apocalypse,  also  in  that  city  (A.  11,  42),  all  referable 
to  Henry  II.  In  the  missal  from  Niedermuenster,  now  in  Munich 
(Cim.  54),  executed  by  order  of  the  abbess  Uota,  under  Henry  II., 
Byzantine  influences  prevail,  making  themselves  evident  in  a  close 


Fig-  257- — Dedicatory  Illustration  of  the  Missal  of  Henry  II.     Library  of  Munich. 

imitation  of  the  manuscripts  of  Otto  III.  They  appear  also  in  the 
Greek  inscriptions,  in  the  preference  for  geometrical  arrangement, 
and  especially  in  the  conventional  composition.  Even  here,  how- 
ever, traces  of  the  style  of  the  Codex  Aureus  of  St.  Emmeramnus 
are  plainly  recognizable. 


GERMANY. 

Ratisbon,  where  the  art  of  illumination  flourished  in  the  elev- 
enth and  twelfth  centuries,  had  in  this  branch  an  influence  upon  the 
neighboring  bishoprics  and  convents,  similar  to  that  exercised  in 
monumental  painting  by  the  before-mentioned  schools  of  the  Rhen- 
ish countries  over  their  surroundings.  As  a  matter  of  course,  this 
influence  was  chiefly  felt  in  Bamberg,  the  artistic  importance  of 
which  place  at  this  time  is  usually  overrated,  in  so  far,  at  least,  as 
the  introduction  and  imitation  of  models  from  Ratisbon  are  ignored. 
Certain  it  is  that  the  so-called  Gospel  of  St.  Ulrich,  now  in  Munich 
(Cim.  3),  is  not  referable  to  St.  Ulrich  of  Augsburg,  A.D.  933  to  975, 
but  to  the  illuminator  Ulrich  of  Bamberg,  who  was  in  the  employ 
of  Bishop  Gerhard  of  Wurzburg  about  the  year  1125.  Hence  this 
work  bears  some  relation  to  the  painting  in  vogue  at  the  court  of 
Henry  II.  at  Ratisbon.  Abbot  Ellinger  of  Tegernsee,  afterwards  of 
Niederaltaich,  A.D.  1017  to  1056, — the  favorite  of  Emperor  Henry 
II.  and  his  wife  Cunigunda, — must  have  been  trained  in  the  school 
of  Ratisbon,  as  is  proved  by  the  style  of  his  works.  The  fine  Evan- 
geliarium,  now  in  Munich  (Cim.  31),  can  with  certainty  be  ascribed 
to  him,  as  can  with  much  probability  that  of  Niederaltaich  (Munich, 
Cim.  163).  The  first-named  Gospel  and  the  Codex  of  Weihenste- 
phan,  now  in  Munich  (Cod.  Pict.  33),  which  latter  is  rather  in  the 
Carolingian  manner,  served  as  models  for  a  series  of  copies,  more  or 
less  direct,  and  very  unequal  in  excellence.  Among  these  the  man- 
uscript from  Freising,  now  in  Munich  (Cod.  Pict.  29),  and  an  imita- 
tion of  it  from  Reitenbuch  (Cod.  Pict.  57),  are  works  of  skilful  hands: 
some,  on  the  contrary,  such  as  Cod.  Pict.  28  and  33,  are  rude,  and 
others,  like  Cod.  Pict.  23  and  82,  are  absolutely  barbarous,  —  their 
defects  resulting  from  a  too  close  dependence  upon  Carolingian 
models. 

Compared  with  the  productions  of  the  school  of  Ratisbon,  those 
of  the  Rhenish  countries  and  of  Saxony  are  of  less  importance.  An 
exception  is,  however,  to  be  made  in  favor  of  one  special  branch, 
namely,  the  architectural  details  of  the  framework  and  the  back- 
ground. Specimens  of  this  class  of  work  are  to  be  found  in  the 
Gospel  of  St.  Gereon  at  Cologne,  now  in  Stuttgart  (Cod.  21),  and  in 
the  three  codices  of  Bernward  among  the  treasures  of  the  Cathedral 
of  Hildesheim.  It  is  not  surprising  that  a  preference  for  such  deco- 

27 


PAINTING  OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

rations  should  have  appeared  in  those  regions  where  the  architectu- 
ral growth  of  the  Romanic  style  had  originated.  As  in  Southern 
Germany,  a  broad  handling  in  gouache  pigments  was  here  prevalent, 
the  most  important  of  these  pictures  being  upon  a  gold  ground  or 
richly  decorated  with  gold.  The  purple  ground  of  the  Carolingians 
gradually  disappeared,  and  no  instances  of  it  are  known  later  than 
the  Codex  Aureus  of  Henry  III.,  originally  in  Speyer,  now  in  the 
Escurial.  Although  they  no  longer  bear  the  resemblance  to  dimin- 
utive mosaics,  still  many  traits  remain  to  remind  us  of  their  Byzan- 
tine origin.  The  relationship  of  the  miniatures  upon  gold  ground 
to  the  Byzantine  enamels  which  served  as  models  in  the  times  of 
Otto  II.  and  Otto  III.  is  perceptible  even  at  this  period. 

The  case  remained  much  the  same  even  after  the  time  of  the 
Saxon  emperors.  Court  painting  under  the  Franconian  dynasty 
had  declined,  not  only  in  regard  to  the  number  of  works  produced, 
but  in  artistic  excellence,  as  is  proved  by  the  Gospel  of  Henry  IV., 
executed  in  Ratisbon,  now  in  the  Cathedral  of  Cracow.  But  a  cer- 
tain archaistic  character  was  retained,  notwithstanding  the  progress 
made  in  the  art  of  illumination  under  the  Hohenstaufens.  More- 
over, the  centre  of  activity  changed,  the  Rhenish  countries  and 
Saxony  becoming  more  prominent.  The  Gospel  of  Bruchsal,  now 
in  the  Library  of  Carlsruhe,  is,  without  doubt,  of  Rhenish  origin ;  its 
conventionalized  figures  are  finely  colored,  and  drawn  with  correct- 
ness, as  well  as  with  some  feeling  for  beauty  of  form,  corresponding 
to  the  advance  made  at  that  period  in  the  other  arts.  Similar  to 
this  work  is  the  Evangeliarium  written  by  the  monk  Heriman  of 
Helmershausen-on-the-Diemel,  for  Henry  the  Lion,  now  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  Duke  of  Cumberland,  which  in  drawing  and  coloring 
is  creditable  both  to  the  training  and  the  taste  of  the  artist,  and  is 
perhaps  the  most  beautiful  illuminated  manuscript  of  the  Romanic 
epoch.  Also  of  Saxon  origin  are  the  Gospel  from  the  Cathedral  at 
Brunswick,  now  in  the  Museum  of  that  city,  the  Psalter  of  the  land- 
grave Herman  of  Thuringia,  who  died  A.  D.  1216,  which  is  now  in 
the  possession  of  the  King  of  Wurtemberg,  and  the  Psalter  of  the 
same  landgrave  in  the  archives  of  the  chapter -house  in  Cividale  in 
Friuli.  These  works  do,  indeed,  show  a  great  improvement  upon 
the  awkward  contortions  and  rigidity  of  the  illuminations  of  the 


GERMANY.  419 

eleventh  century.  Occasionally  a  certain  grace  of  form  and  depth 
of  expression  suggest  the  transition  to  a  new  style  and  to  the  at- 
tenuated elegance  of  the  Gothic  period. 

Court  painting,  however,  never  entirely  overcame  its  retrospect- 
ive and  even  archaistic  character,  while  the  simple  works  intended 
for  the  libraries  of  cloisters  exhibit  from  the  first  a  more  independ- 
ent method  of  illumination,  interesting  as  the  foretoken  of  a  future 
development  into  wood-cut  illustrations,  —  eren  as  this  style  of 
painting  had  itself  succeeded  to  older  artistic  traditions.  Instances 
in  point  are  those  rude  pen -drawings  which  are  either  slightly  or 
not  at  all  colored,  and  form  a  striking  contrast  to  the  works  of  the 
court  painters.  The  oldest  examples  are  the  coarse  outlines,  spar- 
ingly tinted  with  India -ink,  illustrating  the  Wessobrunn  Prayer, 
dating  to  815,  now  in  the  Library  of  Munich,  and  the  miniatures  of 
the  versified  Gospel  of  Otfried,  in  the  Imperial  Library  of  Vienna, 
written  between  865  and  889.  This  manner  of  illustration  seems  to 
have  been  practised  chiefly  in  Southern  Germany,  the  centre  of  ac- 
tivity being  St.  Gall,  at  which  place  the  school  of  design,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  was  of  great  importance  in  connection  with  the 
Irish  and  Carolingian  illumination.  The  retention  of  the  traditional 
and  classic  style,  as  it  appears  in  the  Antiphonarium  of  the  tenth 
century  in  St.  Gall  (No.  390),  was  exceptional ;  the  pen-drawings  in 
black  and  red  of  this  work  have  the  appearance  of  old  woodcuts 
(Fig.  258).  Such  simple  designs  require  little  technical  training,  and 
are,  consequently,  but  in  small  degree  dependent  upon  older  artistic 
traditions.  This  emancipation  is  apparent  in  the  hastily  colored 
drawings  of  a  Psalter  of  the  tenth  century  in  Stuttgart,  in  which  the 
liveliness  of  action  somewhat  compensates  for  the  ugliness  of  form 
and  the  want  of  skill  in  composition.  Such  traits  obtained  especial- 
ly in  those  cases  where  no  older  type  could  be  referred  to  for  the 
subjects  represented,  as  is  shown  by  two  codices  executed  in  St.  Gall 
about  the  year  1000,  that  of  Lucanus  (No.  863)  and  that  of  Pruden- 
tius  (No.  135).  The  two  pen-drawings  of  the  former,  only  partially 
colored  in  yellow  and  red,  show  an  arm  of  the  sea  with  sirens  and 
fishes,  and  the  death  of  Pompey  near  Pelusium.  The  landscape 
backgrounds  have  the  aspect  of  topographical  plans,  in  which  the 
figures  are  disposed  at  hap-hazard,  in  direct  opposition  to  all  the 


420 


PAINTING   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


principles  of  artistic  grouping.  The  same  lack  of  composition  is 
evident  in  the  illustrations  of  the  Psychomachia  of  Prudentius, 
which  are  very  incorrectly  drawn  in  black,  touched  occasionally 
with  red  lines  and  a  sepia  wash.  The  Psalter  of  Notker  Labeo 
(St.  Gall,  No.  21)  belongs  to  this  category  because  of  its  figure 
subjects  executed  with  the  same  scanty  means,  and  only  here  and 
there  displaying  greater  originality  and  energy  of  character.  The 
initials,  drawn  in  black  and  red,  render  it,  in  calligraphic  respects  at 


finnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn 


Fig.  258. -^The  Last  Supper.     Pen-drawing  from  the  Antiphonarium  of  St.  Gall. 

least,  the  most  interesting  among  the  many  Swiss  codices  dating  to 
the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries. 

The  general  revival  of  art,  commencing  under  the  Hohenstau- 
fens,  about  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century,  manifested  itself  also 
in  this  branch.  The  advance  was  best  exemplified  in  the  illus- 
trated manuscript  of  Herrad  von  Landsperg,  Abbess  of  Hohenburg 
in  Alsace,  which  was  burned  during  the  bombardment  of  Strasburg 
in  1870.  This  compendium,  completed  after  1175,  and  intended  for 
instruction  in  nunneries,  contained  a  variety  of  religious,  profane, 


GERMANY. 


421 


allegorical,  historical,  and  even  genre  representations.  These,  to- 
gether with  considerable  feeling  for  beauty  of  form,  sometimes  ex- 
hibited great  freedom  and  originality  of  design,  which,  notwith- 
standing the  incorrectness  of  drawing  and  want  of  skill  in  coloring, 
were  of  great  promise  (Fig.  259).  In  view  of  the  progress  evident 
in  these  works  it  could  not  fail  to  be  recognized  in  which  direction 
the  greatest  success  was  to  be  attained ;  hence  it  resulted,  at  least 


Fig.  259. — Miniature  from  the  Hortus  Deliciarum  of  Herrad  von  Landsperg. 

in  the  illuminations  of  Southern  Germany,  that  outline  drawing 
gained  the  ascendency.  Such  illustrations  were  naturally  of  very 
unequal  merit.  For  example,  the  pen -drawings  in  black  and  red 
from  Zwiefalten,  on  the  Suabian  Alp,  now  in  the  Library  of  Stutt- 
gart, whether  slightly  colored  (Cod.  56-58)  or  untinted  (Cod.  415), 
are  full  of  life,  although  plainly  the  work  of  untrained  hands.  Still 
more  spirited  are  the  drawings  in  the  "  Liet  von  der  Maget,"  by 


422 


PAINTING  OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


Werinher  of  Tegernsee  (Fig.  260),  and  in  the  "  Eneidt "  of  Heinrich 
von  Veldecgk,  both  of  which  are  in  the  Library  of  Berlin.  The  ac- 
tion is  especially  forcible  in  the  representations  of  profane  subjects, 
and  although  the  gestures,  drawn  directly  from  nature,  are  some- 
times exaggerated  and  contorted,  they  are  not  the  less  striking  in 
effect  or  the  less  comprehensible.  That  the  execution  was  also  lia- 
ble to  become  hasty  and  careless  is  made  evident  by  the  numerous 
manuscripts  of  the  productive  monk  Conrad  of  Scheyern,  in  Upper 
Bavaria,  which  are  now  in  the  library  of  Munich.  He  worked,  how- 


Fig.  260. — The  Mothers  of  Bethlehem.     From  Werinher's  "  Liet  von  der  Maget." 

ever,  in  the  first  half  of  the  thirteenth  century,  and  consequently  at 
the  close  of  the  period  under  consideration,  by  which  time  better 
specimens  of  art  were  circulated  from  convent  to  convent.  It  may 
have  been  in  view  of  these  that  he  added  a  few  words  in  conclusion, 
excusing  his  carelessness  by  saying  that  he  had  been  "overburdened 
with  work  and  underpaid."  In  a  similar  manner  another  illumina- 
tor of  this  period,  Hildebertus,  in  a  codex  now  in  the  metropolitan 
chapter-house  at  Prague,  expresses  his  discontent  by  an  illustration 
at  the  end  of  the  book,  in  which  he  represents  himself  as  annoyed 
by  a  mouse  which  is  stealing  his  food.  The  curse  which  he  invokes 


ITALY.  423 

upon  the  animal  is  not  without  humor,  and  is  an  early  instance  of 
the  drolleries  which  came  so  much  in  vogue  in  the  Gothic  epoch. 

The  conditions  of  painting  in  Italy  were  decidedly  different 
from  those  in  Germany.  In  the  latter  country  a  delight  in  pic- 
torial representation  continued  to  make  itself  felt  subsequently  to 
the  Carolingian  age ;  while  its  results  were  not  always  equal  to  the 
architectural  creations,  it  at  least  endeavored  to  keep  pace  with 
the  advances  in  that  branch.  In  Italy,  on  the  other  hand,  and  espe- 
cially in  the  former  dominions  of  the  Lombards,  while  architecture 
was  not  far  behind  that  of  Germany,  painting  was  at  a  stand-still 
during  the  Carolingian  epoch.*  In  view  of  the  works  in  S.  Nereo 
ed  Achilleo,  S.  Cecilia,  S.  Maria  della  Navicella,  and  S.  Prassede,  it 
is  impossible  to  speak  of  an  artistic  decline  in  the  productions  of  the 
ninth  century,  especially  when  these  are  compared  with  the  mosaics 
of  S.  Agnese,  which  had  immediately  preceded  them.  On  the  other 
hand,  notwithstanding  the  patronage  and  many  orders  of  Paschalis  I., 
no  progress  is  observable.  The  relation  of  the  art  of  the  ninth  cen- 
tury to  that  of  the  sixth  is  most  strikingly  shown  by  comparing  the 
mosaics  in  the  spandrels  and  apse  of  SS.  Cosma  e  Damiano  with  the 
almost  exact  copies  which  were  made  nearly  three  hundred  years 
later,  between  817  and  824,  in  S.  Prassede.  As  the  subject  is  almost 
entirely  the  same,  the  decline  in  the  understanding  of  form  and  in 
the  technical  execution,  the  increased  rigidity  and  the  greater  coarse- 
ness in  drawing  and  in  coloring  is  plainly  apparent.  The  few  pro- 
ductions of  the  tenth  century  are  in  technical  respects  still  more 
deformed  and  barbarous.  Some  works  dating  to  the  middle  of  the 
eleventh  century  are  slightly  superior,  such  as  the  legends  of  saints 
in  the  crypt  of  S.  Clemente,  or  the  paintings  of  S.  Elia  of  Nepi,  exe- 
cuted, according  to  an  inscription,  by  the  brothers  John  and  Ste- 
phen, together  with  Nicolaus  Joannis, — but  these  are  exceptional. 
The  artists  of  this  age  appear,  more  than  ever  before,  to  have  lost 
confidence  in  their  own  powers,  and  to  have  sought  assistance  by 

*  G.  B.  de  Rossi,  Musaici  cristiani  e  saggi  del  pavimenti  delle  Chiese  di  Roma  anteriori 
al  sec.  XV.  Roma,  1872-1882.— D.  Salazaro,  Studi  sui  Monument!  della  Italia  Meridio- 
nale  dal  IV.  al  XIII.  secolo.  Napoli,  1871-1880.— The  Same,  L'Arte  Romana  al  Medio 
Evo.  Napoli,  1881-1884. 


424  PAINTING  OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

returning  to  the  Byzantine  models,  which,  after  the  time  of  Justin- 
ian, and  especially  through  the  intercourse  of  Ravenna  with  the 
East,  had  exercised  a  decided  influence.  This  return  required  no 
break  with  the  old  traditions,  and  in  geographical  respects  the 
means  of  connection  were  still  at  hand.  While  in  Southern  Italy 
the  supremacy  of  the  Eastern  empire  had  continued  up  to  the  be- 
ginning of  the  period  in  question,  the  chief  Italian  ports,  particu- 
larly Venice,  had  furthered  the  relations  with  Byzantium  and  its 
Asiatic  and  African  dependencies. 

When  the  abbot  Desiderius  was  about  to  decorate  his  convent 
of  Monte  Casino,  which  had  been  rebuilt  between  1066  and  1071, 
the  magnitude  of  the  undertaking,  unusual  at  that  time,  must  have 
clearly  shown  him  the  inefficiency  of  native  workmen,  especially 
those  of  Central  Italy.  His  pupil  Leo  states  distinctly,  in  the 
chronicle  of  the  convent,  that  it  was  found  necessary  to  call  artists 
from  abroad,  as  Italian  art  "  had  been  lost  for  more  than  five  hun- 
dred years,"  that  is  to  say,  since  the  decoration  of  SS.  Cosma  e  Da- 
miano.  Whatever  was  movable  in  Constantinople  was  purchased 
and  carried  away,  workers  in  mosaic  were  invited,  and  a  school  of 
art  was  instituted  in  Monte  Casino  by  the  patron  abbot  under  the 
superintendence  of  Greek  artisans.  Hence  it  is  not  surprising  that 
the  remains  of  mural  paintings  in  the  Church  of  S.  Angelo  in  For- 
mis  near  Capua,  founded  by  Desiderius,  and  in  the  Church  of  the 
Virgin  at  Foro  Claudio  near  Sessa,  dating  at  about  the  same  period, 
are  Byzantine  in  composition  and  form,  as  well  as  in  technical  re- 
spects. These  peculiarities  are  even  more  observable  in  the  mosaics 
which  have  been  preserved  from  this  epoch,  namely,  in  the  Virgin, 
St.  John  the  Baptist,  and  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  in  the  Cathedral 
of  Capua,  and  the  half -figure  of  St.  Matthew  in  the  Cathedral  of 
Salerno. 

As  the  Maecenas  of  Monte  Casino  occupied  for  a  time  the  pon- 
tifical chair  as  Victor  III.,  it  was  natural  that  the  revival  of  art, 
which  first  appeared  in  the  convent  of  the  Benedictines,  should  also 
extend  to  Rome.  The  three  large  mosaics  of  the  basilicas  S.  Cle- 
mente,  S.  Maria  in  Trastevere,  and  S.  Maria  Nuova,  which  may 
be  considered  as  late  blossoms  of  the  decaying  art  of  Rome,  show 
fewer  Byzantine  characteristics  than  do  the  works  of  Southern  Ita- 


ITALY. 


425 


ly ;  still,  this  is  readily  explained  by  the  existence  in  Rome  of  ear- 
lier Occidental  models.  The  mosaics  in  St.  Peter,  St.  Paul,  S.  Maria 
Maggiore,  and  SS.  Cosma  e  Damiano  must  necessarily  have  been  of 
good  influence  upon  the  debased  Byzantine  style  of  this  late  period. 
The  same  classic  influences  appear  not  only  in  the  inlaid  pavements, 
but  also  in  the  cosmatic  and  painted  wall  decorations,  such,  for  in- 
stance, as  those  in  the  Capella  del  Martirologio  in  S.  Paolo  fuori  le 
Mura  and  in  S.  Silvestro  at  Rome,  which  display,  together  with 
great  rudeness  of  execution  and  a  retention  of  the  typical  Byzantine 


Fig.  261.— Temptation  of  St.  Anthony.     Wall  Painting  in  S.  Sepolcro,  Barletta. 

forms,  certain  reminiscences  of  the  early  Christian  paintings  of  the 
Catacombs.  This  late  appearance  of  ancient  forms  is  occasionally 
due  to  a  direct  imitation  of  antiques;  thus,  in  a  Temptation  of  St. 
Anthony  in  S.  Sepolcro  at  Barletta,  dating  to  the  twelfth  century, 
a  centaur  is  represented  which,  both  in  conception  and  in  animal  de- 
tails, would  be  inexplicable  without  the  assumption  that  the  design 
of  classic  reliefs  had  here  been  followed  (Fig.  261). 

The  mosaics  of  the  twelfth  century  in  Sicily  were  more  simple, 
harmonious,  and  artistic,  as  well  as  superior  in  technical  respects. 
After  the  age  of  Justinian  Byzantine  types  continued  to  be  em- 


426  PAINTING  OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

ployed  without  interruption  not  only  during  the  continuance  of  the 
Eastern  empire,  but  even  after  the  Normans  had  wrested  the  su- 
premacy from  the  Arabs.  The  two  latter  races  essentially  changed 
the  architecture  of  the  island,  giving  it  an  eclectic  and  fantastic 
character,  but  they  could  exert  no  influence  over  the  art  of  paint- 
ing, in  which  the  Arabians  did  not  advance  beyond  mere  decora- 
tion, and  the  Normans  had  brought  little  with  them.  It  was  the 
easier  to  retain  the  old  style,  as  the  mosaic  ornaments  of  Constan- 
tinople had  chiefly  been  developed  in  connection  with  those  ar- 
chitectural features  which  still  remained  Byzantine.  The  mosaic 
decorations  of  the  Capella  Palatina  in  Palermo,*  built  by  King 
Roger  II.  between  1130  and  1154,  as  well  as  those  in  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Monreale,f  referable  to  William  II. ,  A.  D.  1166  to  1189,  are 
of  magnificent  effect,  and  remarkable  for  their  elegance  of  style  and 
the  depth  and  richness  of  color.  With  the  variegated  marble  in- 
crustations of  the  lower  walls  they  form  a  more  harmonious  com- 
bination than  was  attained  in  the  basilicas  of  Rome.  Similar  in 
character  are  the  mosaics  in  the  Martorana  in  Palermo,  dating  to 
1143  (Fig.  262),  and  in  the  Cathedral  of  Cefalu,  completed  in  1148, 
all  of  which,  in  their  strict  ecclesiastical  style,  their  Byzantine  con- 
ventionality, and  technical  treatment,  and  especially  in  their  gen- 
eral effect,  contrast  favorably  with  the  works  of  the.  same  period  in 
Rome.  Yet  there  are  few  traces  of  those  innovations,  resulting 
from  subjective  or  objective  individuality,  and  from  a  desire  to 
find  a  mode  of  expression  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  time, 
which  are  seldom  wanting  in  the  before-mentioned  works  of  Rome, 
or  in  even  the  rudest  artistic  efforts  of  the  North. 

That  the  art  dependent  upon  Byzantium  was  capable  of  rejuve- 
nation, at  least  to  a  certain  degree,  appears  in  the  works  of  Venice, 
and  still  more  in  those  of  Florence.  In  the  building  of  S.  Marco 
Venice  has  given  expression  in  the  most  monumental  manner  to 
the  relations  of  its  culture  with  that  of  Constantinople.  The  deco- 
ration, like  the  construction,  is  by  no  means  of  one  character,  for 

*  M.  Amari,  S.  Cavallari,  C.  Meli  e  J.  Carucci,  La  Capella  di  S.  Pietro  nella  Reggia 
di  Palermo,  dip.  da  A.  Terzi.  Palermo,  1872  sq. 

f  D.  B.  Gravina,  II  Duomo  di  Monreale  ill.  e  riportato  in  tavole  cromolitografiche.  Pa- 
lermo, 1859. 


ITALY.  427 

in  this  church  the  Byzantine  style  was  retained  far  into  the  period 
of  the  Renaissance.  But,  aside  from  this,  it  is  plainly  evident  that 
the  artistic  methods  of  the  Eastern  empire  never  did  become  as  en- 
tirely naturalized  in  Venice  as  in  Sicily,  but  were  merely  borrowed 
for  temporary  requirements,  thus  rendering  more  easy  the  introduc- 
tion of  compromises  resulting  from  local  peculiarities.  This  state 
of  things,  it  is  true,  was  not  at  first  favorable  to  the  development 


Fig.  262.— Entrance  of  Christ  into  Jerusalem.     Mosaic  in  the  Capella  Palatina,  Palermo. 

of  an  artistic  style.  The  oldest  works  of  S.  Marco,  those  in  the 
cathedrals  of  Murano  and  Torcello,  and  the  mosaic  of  S.  Cipriano 
upon  the  Island  of  Murano,  dating  to  1109,  now  in  the  Friedens- 
kirche,  near  Potsdam,  are  by  no  means  equal  to  those  of  Palermo. 

The  first  dawn  of  independence  in  Italian  art  manifested  itself 
even  more  decidedly  in  Tuscany  than  in  Rome  or  in  Venice.  The 
earliest  memorial  of  this  progress  is  the  mosaic  executed  in  the  tri- 


428  PAINTING  OF   THE    ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

buna  of  the  Baptistery  in  Florence  by  the  Franciscan  monk  Jacobus, 
A.  D.  1225.  However  pleasing  because  of  its  novelty  of  composi- 
tion and  greater  freedom  in  the  draperies,  this  work  still  betrays  the 
influences  of  Ravenna,  and  a  direct  dependency  upon  the  produc- 
tions of  the  age  of  Justinian.  These  characteristics  may  be  traced 
for  a  hundred  years  and  more,  being  evident  in  the  works  of  Andrea 
Tafi  and  Gaddo  Gaddi,  in  the  same  Baptistery,  which  are  to  be  re- 
ferred to  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century.  Even  Giovanni 
Cimabue,  in  his  mosaic  in  the  apse  of  the  Cathedral  at  Pisa,  A.  D. 
1301  and  1302,  deviates  so  little  from  the  earlier  traditions  that,  at 
least  in  this  branch  of  art,  he  is  to  be  considered  rather  as  the  last 
of  the  Byzantines  than  as  a  pioneer  of  a  new  style. 

It  is  probable  that  textile  industry,  at  that  time  highly  devel- 
oped, exercised  itself  in  the  manufacture  of  wall  tapestries  as  well 
as  of  magnificent  vestments.  At  all  events,  two  distinct  classes  of 
work  were  produced  in  Palermo :  rich  stuffs  embroidered  with  fig- 
ures in  the  Byzantine  manner,  and  Arabian  fabrics,  woven  or  em- 
broidered, with  ornamental  patterns  such  as  those  typical  animal 
forms  from  which  heraldic  devices  were  subsequently  developed. 
To  the  former  variety,  intended  chiefly  for  liturgical  purposes,  be- 
long the  coronation  robes  of  Henry  II.,  in  the  Cathedral  of  Bam- 
berg,  executed  in  the  year  1014,  and  the  casula  of  St.  Stephen,  in 
Stuhlweissenburg,  dating  to  1132;  to  the  latter  the  coronation 
mantle  of  1132  and  the  alba  of  1181,  in  the  Treasury  at  Vienna. 
These  Arabian  stuffs  were  widely  dispersed  throughout  the  North, 
being  highly  prized  as  coverings  for  cushions,  pillows,  and  chairs, 
for  dorsels,  the  caparisons  of  horses,  etc. 

In  Italy  painting  upon  panels  was  at  that  time  almost  entirely 
restricted  to  single  figures,  which  were  sometimes  accompanied  by 
smaller  representations,  composed  in  separate  compartments  and 
treated  like  miniatures.  It  is  evident  from  the  dilettanteism  and 
weakness  of  everything  of  the  kind  that  has  been  preserved,  that 
such  work  was  for  the  most  part  left  to  men  of  inferior  training, 
the  skilled  artists  being  engaged  upon  more  monumental  tasks. 
This,  however,  does  not  exclude  the  prevalence  of  Byzantine  tradi- 
tions in  panel  painting.  The  most  common  subject  was  the  cruci- 
fixion, the  pictures  of  which,  though  of  painful  monotony,  rival  one 


ITALY. 


429 


another  in  the  expression  of  an  ascetic  ecstasy  of  suffering  (Fig.  263). 
Such  a  caricature  of  the  pathetic  does  still  surpass  the  soulless  rigid- 
ity of  the  Byzantine  models,  and  has  in  it  some  elements  hopeful 
for  the  future.  But  this  expression  of  sentiment  cannot  compen- 
sate for  the  lack  of  all  feeling  for  beauty.  This  is  even  the  case 
with  the  works  of  Giunta  Pisano  —  celebrated  in  his  time,  between 
1202  and  1255 —who,  like  all  his  contemporaries,  continued,  in  tech- 
nical respects  not  less  than  in  the  types  of  design,  to  be  depen- 


Fig.  263. — Crucifix  in  the  Chapter-house  of  the  Cathedral  of  Pistoja. 

dent  upon  Byzantine  models.  Giovanni  Cimabue  was  the  first  to 
aspire  to  higher  ideals.  Working  towards  the  close  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  he  succeeded  in  giving  to  his  Byzantine  Madonnas  some 
expression  of  life  and  soul.  The  improvements  which  he  introduced 
affected  panel  painting  rather  than  mosaic.  But  however  cramped 
by  the  limitations  of  the  old  traditions,  and  although  in  many  re- 
spects a  hesitating  representative  of  the  transitional  period,  Cimabue 
shows,  in  details  and  accessary  figures,  many  characteristics  of  the 
Gothic  epoch,  in  connection  with  which  his  work  is  to  be  considered. 


430  PAINTING  OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

The  comparative  inactivity  of  miniature  painting  is  to  be  as- 
cribed to  the  subordinate  part  taken  in  the  culture  of  the  time  by 
the  Italian  clergy.  During  this  entire  period  there  were  but  few 
native  productions  which  could  be  at  all  compared  with  those  of 
Germany.  The  coarse  pen -drawings  of  the  Easter  hymns,  which, 
written  upon  scrolls,  have  received  their  name  from  the  first  word 
of  the  text,  "  exultet"  are  of  the  same  uncertain  forms  and  stiff  and 
mechanical  execution  as  are  the  illustrations  to  Donizo's  laudatory 
poem  on  the  Margravine  Matilda,  dating  to  1115,  now  in  the  Libra- 
ry of  the  Vatican  (No.  4922).  In  these  works  the  Byzantine  influ- 
ence is  scarcely  perceptible,  the  chief  characteristics  being  a  helpless 
and  careless  dilettanteism.  In  the  district  of  Milan  Carolingian 
methods  were  long  preserved,  and  led  to  successful  results  similar 
to  those  attained  in  Germany.  These  peculiarities  appear  in  a  fine 
Psalter  of  the  eleventh  century,  now  in  the  Library  of  Munich  (Cod. 
Lat.  343),  which  is  rendered  particularly  remarkable  by  the  beauti- 
fully designed  figures  of  its  initials.  Still,  on  the  whole,  the  Italian 
miniatures  of  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries,  and  the  panel 
paintings  of  Giunta  Pisano,  gave  but  little  promise  of  the  great  rise 
in  the  art  of  painting  which  was  witnessed  in  Italy  during  the  Quat- 
trocento. 

The  Romanic  art  of  France  did  not  attain  to  the  eminence 
of  the  Gothic,  which,  during  subsequent  ages,  rendered  that  nation 
the  most  important  in  Europe.  In  some  degree  this  was  due  to 
the  curtailment  of  the  former  period  by  the  early  development  of 
the  transitional  style.  Noteworthy  examples,  it  is  true,  are  not 
wanting  in  all  the  branches  of  art  which  fall  under  our  present  con- 
sideration. But  their  scarcity  is  such  that  little  activity  can  be  in- 
ferred ;  their  unequal  merit  proves  the  non-existence  of  any  style 
characteristic  of  the  country  and  the  time,  and  their  general  rude- 
ness and  helplessness  show  the  want  of  training.  Even  in  the 
South,  where  architectural  decoration,  closely  following  antique 
models,  had  retained  a  considerable  degree  of  excellence,  the  tra- 
ditions of  painting  were  lost,  and  it  was  only  towards  the  close  of 
the  period  that  anything  of  importance  was  produced  in  this  branch. 

After  the  works  of  Germigny-des-Pres  mosaics  with  figures  were 


FRANCE. 


431 


not  employed  as  wall  decorations.  Although  a  high  artistic  charac- 
ter is  not  expected  in  mosaic  pavements,  even  the  most  modest  re- 
quirements could  not  be  satisfied  by  such  a  work  as  that  preserved 
in  the  apse  of  the  Church  of  Cruas  (Ardeche),  the  interest  of  which 
is  heightened  by  its  unquestionable  date,  A.  D.  1048  (Fig.  264).  It 
might  be  thought  that  the  hardness  and  ungainliness  of  the  two 
figures  of  the  prophets,  Elijah  and  Enoch,  could  not  be  surpassed, 
were  it  not  that  the  unnaturalness  of  the  trees  upon  either  side  of 
the  symbol  of  the  cross  is  even  more  astonishing.  The  remains  of 
other  mosaics,  as,  for  instance,  those  from  the  site  of  the  Church 


Fig.  264. — Mosaic  Pavement  in  Cruas,  Southern  France. 

De  la  Major  at  Marseilles,  which  has  been  demolished,  from  near  the 
Cathedral  of  Valence,  and  from  St.  Trophime  at  Aries,  are  of  greater 
artistic  value,  but  probably  of  earlier  date.  That  mosaics  with  fig- 
ures were  also  customary  in  the  north  of  France  was  proved  by  the 
pavement  of  St.  Remy,  in  Rheims,  of  1090,  which  has  now  disap- 
peared. Together  with  biblical  scenes,  it  contained  representations 
)f  other  subjects,  such  as  the  earth  and  sea,  the  seasons,  months, 
the  zodiac,  and  the  arts,  all  of  which  showed  classical  reminiscences. 
Scarcely  any  of  the  mural  paintings  of  France  date  to  the  elev- 
enth century,  and  but  few  are  as  old  as  the  twelfth.  The  earliest 


432 


PAINTING  OF   THE    ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


appear  to  be  those  of  the  Chapel  of  Liget  (Indre  et  Loire),  or  the 
figures  in  the  Baptistery  of  St.  John  at  Poitiers,  both  very  Byzantine 
in  character.  In  the  meander  ornaments,  drawn  in  perspective,  of 
the  latter  church  there  may  be  traced  a  dependence  upon  classic 
mosaic  models  (see  page  401).  More  extensive  remains  have  been 
preserved  in  the  Church  of  St.  Savin  (D£partement  Vienne)  in  Poi- 

tou,  where  all  the  walls  and 
vaults,  including  those  of  the 
crypt,  were  originally  covered 
with  paintings.  The  treat- 
ment of  these  works  is  very 
simple,  being  little  more  than 
an  outline  filled  in  with  local 
colors,  and  entirely  without 
modelling;  but  the  compo- 
sition and  the  forms  already 
display  an  entire  emancipa- 
tion from  Byzantine  conven- 
tionality. The  action  is  easy 
and  expressive,  and  the  forms 
are  not  without  a  certain 
charm,  approaching  the  slen- 
der proportions  of  the  Goth- 
ic. These  characteristics  are 
still  more  apparent  in  some 
remains  of  mural  paintings  in 
the  Chapter-house  of  St.  Tro- 
phime  in  Aries  (Fig.  265), 
which  are  to  be  ascribed  to 
the  end  of  the  twelfth  or 
the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century.  These  show  great  beauty 
of  design  and  expression,  and  some  attempt  at  modelling  in  the 
draperies,  approaching,  more  closely,  in  technical  respects,  our  stand- 
ards in  the  art  of  painting  than  could  the  earlier  works  executed 
in  simple  outlines  and  flat  tints. 

The   glass   painting  of  the  period,  even  when  compared  with 
these  better  productions,  must  be  pronounced  superior.     As  has  al- 


Fig.  265. — Wall  Painting  from  the  Chapter-house 
of  St.  Trophime  in  Aries. 


FRANCE.  433 

ready  been  said,  the  painting  of  figures  upon  glass  seems  to  have 
been  first  practised  in  Rheims,  and  Theophilus, — a  German  monk 
who  probably  wrote  in  the  twelfth  century, — asserted  the  French  at 
that  time  to  be  the  cleverest  masters  in  this  art.  Still,  the  before- 
mentioned  windows  in  the  Cathedral  of  Augsburg  are  fully  fifty 
years  older  than  the  most  ancient  specimen  of  French  painting 
upon  glass  known.  This  is  a  fragment  representing  the  Ascension, 
which,  taken  from  the  Romanic  Cathedral  of  Le  Mans,  built  towards 
the  close  of  the  eleventh  century,  has  been  placed  among  the  Gothic 
windows  of  the  Chapel  of  the  Virgin  in  the  same  town.  In  contrast 
to  the  Byzantine  stiffness  of  the  single  figures  in  Augsburg,  the  group 
of  the  apostles  at  Le  Mans  displays  a  forcible  though  somewhat  ex- 
aggerated action,  which,  combined  with  the  successful  blending  of 
colors  to  a  decorative  effect  similar  to  that  attained  in  the  tapestries 
of  the  period,  compensates  for  the  untrained  design,  the  incorrect- 
ness of  the  forms,  and  the  awkward  positions  of  the  limbs.  A  fur- 
ther stage  of  development  is  exemplified  by  the  four  windows  of  the 
Cathedral  of  Angers,  dating  to  the  years  between  1125  and  1149, 
which  contain,  in  medallions  upon  a  blue  ground,  representations 
of  the  legends  of  the  saints.  These  were  the  earliest  of  a  number 
of  similar  paintings  upon  glass,  among  which  may  be  mentioned 
those  of  the  western  front  of  the  Cathedral  of  Chartres,  and  those 
of  the  choir  of  the  Abbey  Church  of  St.  Denis.  This  combination 
of  medallions  with  a  background  of  tapestry  patterns  was  prev- 
alent in  France  until  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century,  appearing  in 
St.  Pere  at  Chartres  and  Ste.  Trinite  at  Vendome.  It  extended  also 
to  Germany,  where  it  was  adopted  in  the  Collegiate  Church  of 
Buecken. 

The  tapestry  hangings  of  the  lower  parts  of  the  walls  formed 
an  important  feature  in  mural  decoration,  especially  after  ornamen- 
tations of  revetments  and  mosaics  had  gone  out  of  fashion,  simple 
painting  proving  unsatisfactory  because  of  its  want  of  durability,  and 
because  the  short  distance,  from  which  the  work  was  seen,  rendered 
every  defect  visible.  Though  it  is  to  be  assumed  that  these  hang- 
ings were  chiefly  in  request  for  secular  buildings,  the  comfort  of 
which  was  greatly  increased  by  the  dorsals,  similar  considerations 
favored  their  adoption  for  the  chancels  of  cathedrals  and  collegiate 

28 


434  PAINTING   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

churches.  The  tapestries  were  either  woven  or  embroidered  ;  those 
of  the  first  class,  when  not  imported,  were  copies  of  Byzantine  or 
Moorish  models,  and  generally  of  ornamental  patterns;  those  of 
the  latter,  containing  figures,  were  of  greater  freedom  and  original- 
ity of  design,  but  extremely  nai've  and  rude.  Embroidery  was  par- 
ticularly in  vogue  in  the  northern  provinces  of  France,  perhaps 
being  influenced  by  England.  The  most  important  work  of  the 
kind,  the  Tapestry  of  Bayeux,  now  in  the  museum  of  that  town, 
was  executed  soon  after  1066.  It  is  a  linen  cloth,  sixty-three  me- 
tres long  and  about  half  a  metre  broad,  embroidered  with  colored 
threads,  and  represents  the  Conquest  of  England  by  William  of 
Normandy.  This  simple  chronicle  in  figures  can  hardly  be  called  a 
work  of  art,  the  helplessness  of  the  drawing  being  only  equalled  by 
the  weakness  of  the  composition.  French  tapestry  weaving,  which 
was  actively  pursued  in  the  countries  between  the  Garonne  and  the 
Loire,  was  superior  in  artistic  respects ;  its  patterns,  however,  being 
of  the  Sicilian  style,  were  chiefly  ornamental.  As  early  as  A.D.  985 
Saumur  was  renowned  for  its  tapestry  weaving,  and  in  1025  and  the 
following  years  the  Count  of  Poitou  exported  the  fabrics  of  his 
country  to  Italy. 

Conditions  were  not  favorable  at  this  time  for  miniature  paint- 
ing in  France.  The  art  was  almost  entirely  limited  to  pen-drawing 
of  the  rudest  description,  scantily  touched  with  dull  colors.  The 
initials,  which  often  occupied  an  entire  page,  and  were  executed 
chiefly  after  the  Irish  manner,  in  braided  patterns,  became  predomi- 
nant by  being  employed  as  the  framework  for  representations  of 
biblical  scenes,  which  filled  the  inner  fields  of  the  round  letters,  or 
were  placed  like  medallions  in  the  upright  ones.  It  is  not  definitely 
known  whether  France  was  dependent  in  this  respect  upon  the  dis- 
trict of  Milan,  which,  from  the  beginning  of  the  Middle  Ages,  had 
exercised  great  influence  upon  Gaul.  Certain  it  is  that  the  initials 
in  the  before-mentioned  Psalter  of  Milan  differ  from  those  now  under 
consideration,  in  that  the  figures  of  the  former  themselves  consti- 
tute the  letters,  while  in  the  latter  they  are  merely  added  to  them. 
When  more  extended  compositions  appear,  they  are  much  harder 
and  ruder  than  those  of  German  manuscripts.  This  is  the  case 
with  the  Regula  of  St.  Benedict,  written  at  St.  Gilles,  near  Nimes, 


FRANCE. 


435 


in    1129,    now   in    the    British    Museum    (Additional    MS.    16070} 
(Fig.  2^ 

About  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century  an  essential  change 
took  place  in  French  illumination  in  regard  to  beauty  of  color,  the 
decorative  effect  being  heightened  and  the  way  prepared  for  the  im- 
provement in  miniature  painting  which  obtained  during  the  Gothic 
period.  This  was,  no  doubt,  in  great  measure  attributable  to  the 
influence  of  the  paintings  upon  glass,  which  had  been  widely  ex- 
tended ;  for  the  brighter  the  effect  attained  by  the  gorgeous  hues 


m/Luruf 


Fig.  266. — St.  Benedict  giving  the  Rules  of  his  Order  to  the  Brothers.     Miniature  from 
a  Codex  of  Southern  France,  now  in  the  British  Museum. 


of  painted  windows,  the  more  were  the  artists  in  other  branches  in- 
duced to  give  up  the  dull  olive  tones  of  the  Byzantines,  as  well  as 
the  glaring  and  unmodulated  combinations  of  color  prevalent  early 
in  the  Middle  Ages,  and  to  strive  for  greater  brilliancy,  even  though 
approaching  no  nearer  to  nature.  This  dependence  upon  stained 
glass  is  apparent,  as  early  as  the  close  of  the  eleventh  century,  in 
a  Bible  in  the  Abbey  of  St.  Martial  at  Limoges ;  its  large  initials, 
each  covering  an  entire  page,  are  filled  with  representations  which 
admits  of  no  doubt  as  to  their  being  copied  from  glass  paintings. 
Indications  of  realistic  tendencies  appear,  but  as  yet  rather  in  the 


436  PAINTING   OF   THE    ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

representations  of  animals  than  of  human  figures.    The  development 
of  these  characteristics,  however,  belongs  to  the  following  epoch. 

Spain,  in  painting  as  in  architecture,  was  dependent  upon  the 
art  of  France.  The  Roman  and  Visigothic  culture  had  been  the 
same  upon  both  sides  of  the  Pyrenees,  and  the  geographical  position, 
with  the  intercourse  by  land  and  water  resulting  therefrom,  led  to  a 
certain  similarity  in  these  respects  even  after  the  bonds  of  political 
union  had  been  severed.  But  the  conquest  of  the  better  portion  of 
the  peninsula  by  the  Mohammedans,  and  the  hardships  endured  by 


Fig.  267. — Miniature  from  the  Codex  Vigilanus  in  the  Escurial. 

the  remaining  provinces,  did  not  permit  the  culture  of  Christian 
Spain  to  keep  pace  with  that  of  Southern  France ;  it  was  thus  re- 
duced to  a  subordinate  position,  the  works  of  art  being  dependent 
upon  those  of  the  valley  of  the  Garonne,  and  especially  of  Toulouse. 
The  paintings  of  this  period,  of  an  inferior  character  in  France,  were 
naturally  upon  a  still  lower  level  in  Spain.  Indeed,  in  the  Christian 
provinces  there  are  no  noteworthy  remains,  at  least  of  monumental 
painting,  which  are  to  be  ascribed  to  the  time  in  question.  The 
manuscripts,  also,  seem  to  have  seldom  advanced  beyond  simple  or- 
namental initials  of  Irish  character,  as  is  seen,  for  example,  in  a  Mar- 
tyrologium  dating  to  919,  now  in  the  British  Museum  (Additional 


ENGLAND. 

MS.  15,600).  When  figures  are  attempted,  as  in  the  Codex  Vigila- 
nus,  completed  in  976,  and  containing  lists  of  the  Spanish  councils 
and  the  Cronicon  Albeldense,  they  are  rude  and  naive,  entirely  with- 
out facial  expression,  and  provided  in  a  childlike  manner  with  many 
explanatory  legends.  This  manuscript,  from  the  Cloister  of  Albelda, 
is  now  preserved  in  the  library  of  the  Escurial  (D.  i,  2,  Membr.  F.). 
(Fig.  267).  The  same  simple  treatment,  with  even  more  numerous 
pictures,  appears  in  the  Commentary  to  the  Apocalypse,  dating  to 
the  year  1109  and  now  in  the  British  Museum  (Additional  MS. 
11,695). 

England,  before  the  "Norman  conquest,  had  no  monumental 
painting  of  note,  this  being  in  great  measure  due  to  its  architec- 
ture being  limited  to  constructions  of  wood.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  production  of  tapestries  was  encouraged  by  the  employment  of 
perishable  building  materials,  the  elaborate  plaited  and  braided  mat- 
tings of  Celtic  art  not  continuing  in  use  after  the  beginning  of  the 
Carolingian  epoch.  The  mat  was  superseded  by  a  woven  tapestry, 
generally  embroidered  with  figures.  The  manufacture  of  such  fabrics 
assumed  an  importance  so  great  that  the  Opus  Anglicanum,  through- 
out the  Middle  Ages,  competed  with  the  Opus  Grczcum  of  Sicily, 
although  in  technical  and  artistic  respects  it  was  certainly  inferior. 

Having  freed  itself  from  the  Irish  style  of  intertwined  strap- 
work,  the  art  of  illumination  became  the  more  extensive  and  success- 
ful.* It  appears  that  this  advance  took  place  during  the  reign  of 
Alfred  the  Great,  A.  D.  871  to  901,  a  ruler  whose  position  in  regard 
to  the  civilization  of  the  island  was  similar  to  that  of  Charlemagne 
in  the  continental  empire.  After  his  time  works  were  produced  in 
England  which  were  scarcely  inferior  to  those  of  Carolingian  Ger- 
many. Noteworthy  examples  are  the  Codex  of  King  Edgar,  dating 
to  966,  now  in  the  British  Museum  (Cott.  MS.  Vesp.  A.  8)  (Fig.  268) ; 
and  especially  the  beautiful  Benedictional  of  the  Bishop  Aetelwold 
of  Winchester,  A.  D.  963  to  984,  now  in  the  library  of  the  Duke  of 


*  J.  O.  Westwood,  Fac-similes  of  the  Miniatures  and  Ornaments  of  Anglo-Saxon  and 
Irish  Manuscripts.  London,  1868. — E.  A.  Bond  and  E.  M.  Thompson,  The  Paleograph- 
ical  Society.  Fac-similes  of  Manuscripts  and  Inscriptions.  III.  London,  1873-1883. 


PAINTING  OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

Devonshire  at  Chatsworth.  It  is  to  be  assumed  that  St.  Dunstan 
took  an  important  part  in  this  development,  as  he  was  himself  an 
illuminator,  and  continued  the  literary  activity  of  Alfred  the  Great. 
In  the  dark  times  of  the  Danish  invasion,  however,  the  art  of 
England  declined  the  more  rapidly  as  it  was  wholly  without  an 
architectural  foundation.  The  illustrations  of  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury were  limited  to  simple 
pen  drawings,  some  of  which 
were  not  without  a  certain 
originality  and  facility,  as, 
for  instance,  those  of  the 
Officium  S.  Crucis  et  Trini- 
tatis,  dating  to  the  years  be- 
tween 1012  and  1020,  now 
in  the  British  Museum  (Cott. 
MS.  Tit.  D.  27),  and  those  of 
the  Psychomachia  of  Aur. 
Prudentius,  executed  during 
the  first  half  of  the  eleventh 
century,  in  the  same  collec- 
tion (Cott.  MS.  Cleop.  C.  8). 
In  these  works  the  influence 
of  the  school  of  illumination 
of  Winchester  is  still  per- 
ceptible; of  decidedly  infe- 
rior character,  however,  are 
others  of  the  kind,  such  as 
the  Latin  Psalter  with  Eng- 
lish notes,  probably  refera- 
ble to  the  time  of  Edward 

the  Confessor,  A.  D.  1041  to  1066,  now  in  the  British  Museum  (Cott. 
MS.  Tib.  C.  6).  After  the  Norman  conquest  there  was  no  such 
steady  improvement  in  the  painting  as  in  the  architecture  of  Eng- 
land. The  illuminations  of  the  French  were  by  no  means  equal 
to  those  of  the  Anglo-Saxons.  It  is  evident  from  the  Latin  and 
Norman  Psalter  in  the  British  Museum  (Cott.  MS.  Nero  C.  6),  that 
even  the  illustrated  manuscripts  of  the  school  of  Winchester  were 


Fig.  268. — King  Edgar  between  the  Virgin  and  St. 
Peter.  Miniature  from  the  Codex  of  Edgar,  in 
the  British  Museum. 


SCANDINAVIA.  439 

at  this  time  inferior  to  those  which  it  had  produced  a  century  be- 
fore,— this  being,  without  doubt,  due  to  the  devotion  of  all  energies 
to  architectural  constructions. 

Scandinavia*  and  the  other  countries  of  the  North  stood,  in  ar- 
tistic respects,  upon  a  far  lower  level  than  England.  As  buildings 
of  wood  continued  to  be  erected  during  the  entire  Romanic  epoch, 
monumental  painting  was  so  neglected  that  for  many  centuries  it 
was  unable  to  follow  the  advance  made  in  other  parts  of  Europe. 
The  excessively  long  and  lean  figures,  with  their  brown  flesh-tints 
and  cold,  bright  green,  blue,  and  red  draperies  and  backgrounds, 
such  as  were  introduced  at  a  comparatively  recent  period  into  the 
Church  of  Bjeresjo  in  Sweden,  are  rendered  the  more  hideous  and 
corpse-like  by  their  closed  eyes.  Compared  with  that  of  Central 
Europe,  the  production  of  illuminated  manuscripts  was  inconsidera- 
ble in  these  countries,  and  their  carvings  distinctly  show  how  im- 
portant a  feature  of  Northern  ornamentation  was  the  preference 
for  monstrous  forms. 

*  N.  M.  Mandelgren,  Monuments  Scandinaviques  du  moyen-age,  avec  les  peintures  et 
autres  ornements  qui  le  decorent.     Copenhague-Paris,  1855-1862. 


Fig.  269. — Sculptured  Portal  of  Vezelay  in  Burgundy. 


SCULPTURE   OF   THE    ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

DURING  the  Early  Christian,  Byzantine,  and  Carolingian  pe- 
riods sculpture  occupied  but  an  inferior  position  among  the 
arts,  and  even  in  the  first  ages  of  the  Romanic  epoch  but  few  and 
unimportant  tasks  were  assigned  to  this  branch.  Religion  and  ar- 
chitecture, which  provided  most  of  the  subjects  and  opportunities 
for  the  development  of  monumental  art,  had  decidedly  favored 
painting,  in  which  the  former  found  its  more  adequate  expression, 
and  the  latter  a  decoration  easily  applied  to  its  as  yet  imperfect 
constructions.  Monumental  sculpture  did  not  attain  to  a  higher 
standard  until  the  close  of  the  period  now  under  consideration. 
A  somewhat  better  position  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  minor  branches. 


GERMANY.  44! 

which,  comparable  to  the  illumination  of  manuscripts,  found  em- 
ployment in  the  decoration  of  utensils,  especially  those  in  ecclesi- 
astical use.  The  technical  methods  of  Byzantium,  preserved  by  the 
goldsmiths,  led  to  a  more  direct  and  lasting  retention  of  the  earlier 
traditions  than  was  the  case  in  painting,  although  the  ornamental 
forms  of  the  Romanic  style  were  early  adopted. 

In  the  consideration  of  Romanic  sculpture  it  is  only  with  some 
reserve  that  the  first  place  can  be  assigned  to  Germany.  There 
being  here  no  traditions  in  this  art,  and,  especially  in  monumental 
sculpture,  no  direct  help  to  be  obtained  from  the  imitation  of  im- 
ported models,  technical  facility  was  more  difficult  to  acquire  than 
it  had  been  in  painting,  in  which  branch  experiments  more  readily 
lead  to  comparatively  good  results.  In  the  former  provinces  of 
Rome  some  statues  and  reliefs  were  still  preserved,  and  it  is  known 
that  even  in  the  time  of  Charlemagne  an  equestrian  statue  of  bronze 
was  removed  to  Aix-la-Chapelle ;  it  may,  however,  with  reason  be 
assumed  that  in  the  greater  part  of  Germany  no  such  remains  ex- 
isted at  this  period. 

The  way  had  been  but  little  prepared  for  sculpture  in  stone  by 
the  ordinary  stone- cutting  required  for  building,  the  architectural 
decorations  of  earlier  ages  being  restricted  to  the  simplest  forms, 
chiefly  of  geometrical  design.  The  cube  capital  and  the  linear  pat- 
terns of  Northern  art  show  the  influence  of  this  limitation.  Even 
in  the  Rhenish  provinces,  notwithstanding  the  antique  models  there 
preserved,  little  more  was  attempted  than  rude  ornaments  of  foliage 
in  the  classic  style.  For  tombstones  the  commonest  symbols  were 
employed,  such  as  the  cross,  the  crozier,  net-work,  and  the  like ; 
baptismal  fonts  were,  at  best,  decorated  with  simple  masks.  In  Ger- 
many the  sculpture  of  figures  was  rare  during  the  eleventh  century. 
Human  images  appear  only  in  reliefs,  badly  drawn  and  still  more 
badly  mpdelled,  and  in  design  evidently  imitated  from  miniature 
paintings.  These  characteristics  are  to  be  observed  in  the  modest  re- 
liefs of  the  frieze  upon  the  fagade  of  the  Collegiate  Church  of  Andlau 
in  Alsace.  The  lack  of  artistic  ability  is  even  more  apparent  in  the 
few  figures  in  the  full  round,  such  as  the  David  and  Nathan  upon 
the  portal  of  the  Collegiate  Church  of  the  Alte  Kapelle  in  Ratisbon, 
now  disfigured  by  a  rococo  restoration.  The  best  results  were  at- 


442 


SCULPTURE   OF   THE    ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


tained  when  the  artists  had  received  their  training  in  the  carving  of 
ivory  reliefs,  or  in  the  manufacture  of  beaten  metal  work.  The  influ- 
ence of  the  former  is  evident  in  the  two  reliefs  of  stone  in  the  Minster 
of  Basle,  the  comparative  excellence  of  which,  if  indeed  they  are  to 
be  ascribed  to  the  eleventh  century,  can  thus  alone  be  accounted 
for.  That  representing  the  martyrdom  of  St.  Vincent  (Fig.  270)  ap- 
pears to  be  a  direct  imitation  of  such  reliefs,  carved  upon  diptychs, 
as  were  to  be  found  at  that  period  in  the  treasuries  of  all  large 
churches,  while  the  six  figures  of  apostles,  under  arcades  of  the  other 
panel,  may  be  compared  to  those  upon  the  gold  antependium  of 
Henry  II.,  once  preserved  in  the  Minster  of  Basle. 


Fig.  270. — Relief  in  the  Minster  of  Basle. 

Where  there  was  no  such  training,  the  greatest  rudeness  is  ob- 
servable, even  during  the  twelfth  century, — being  the  more  manifest 
the  more  the  artist  endeavored  to  make  up  for  the  incorrectness  of 
the  forms  by  an  exaggeration  of  the  action.  This  is  the  case  with 
the  relief  of  one  of  the  so-called  Extersteine  near  Horn,  in  the  prin- 
cipality of  Lippe-Detmold,  probably  executed  about  1115,  repre- 
senting the  Descent  from  the  Cross,  above  a  scene,  now  rnqch 
defaced,  of  Adam  and  Eve  in  Paradise.  Notwithstanding  a  certain 
expression  of  sentiment  in  the  gestures,  the  helplessness  of  the  ac- 
tion in  the  figures  of  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  Nicodemus,  and  Christ 
is  absolutely  deplorable.  No  study  whatever  of  nature  is  apparent, 


GERMANY.  443 

and  only  slight  classic  reminiscences  are  to  be  observed  in  the  dra- 
peries, to  which  the  monotony  of  the  folds  give  something  of  an 
archaistic  character. 

The  backwardness  of  Cologne,  and  indeed  of  all  the  towns  of 
the  Middle  Rhine,  in  the  sculpture  of  figures,  when  compared  with 
the  great  architectural  culture  of  the  twelfth  century,  can  only  be 
accounted  for  by  the  absorption  of  all  creative  power  in  the  erection 
of  the  gigantic  edifices  of  these  districts,  and  the  furtherance  of  the 
constructive  progress  which  was  thereby  made.  The  neighboring 
province  of  Westphalia,  though  decidedly  inferior  in  architectural 
respects,  produced  in  sculpture  some  significant  results,  such  as  the 
tympanons  of  the  portals  at  Erwitte,  Soest,  and  Balve,  and  the  bap- 
tismal fonts  of  Freckenhorst,  Aplerbeck,  and  Beckum,  all  of  which, 
though  of  little  interest  in  their  subjects,  still  possess  certain  merits 
of  execution.  The  thirteen  statues  in  the  southern  portal  of  the 
Cathedral  of  Muenster,  and  especially  those  of  the  southern  portal 
of  the  Cathedral  of  Paderborn,  are  superior, — already  approaching, 
however,  to  the  characteristics  of  the  Gothic  style. 

In  Upper  Germany,  also,  the  attempt  was  made  to  compensate 
for  the  defects  of  the  architecture  by  sculptured  decorations,  chiefly 
applied  to  the  capitals  and  portals.  The  most  elaborately  orna- 
mented capitals  are  found  in  Suabia  and  Alemannia,  these  being 
often  of  extremely  rude  execution,  like  those  of  the  Minster  of 
Zurich.  The  supports  themselves  were  frequently  decorated  with 
patterns  of  tasteful  design,  and  occasionally  carved  upon  all  sides  in 
high-relief.  Examples  of  this  treatment  are  a  number  of  columns 
in  the  cloister  of  the  Collegiate  Church  of  Berchtesgaden,  and  es- 
pecially an  octagonal  pier  in  the  crypt  of  the  Cathedral  of  Freising, 
the  importance  of  which  lies  in  the  intricate  and  fanciful  design 
rather  than  in  the  mediocre  execution  (Fig.  271).  The  same  remark 
applies  to  the  many  figures  of  the  most  important  sculptured  portal 
of  Southern  Germany,  that  of  the  Church  of  St.  James  at  Ratisbon, 
executed  towards  the  close  of  the  twelfth  century. 

Among  all  the  countries  of  Germany,  the  greatest  importance  is 
at  this  period  to  be  assigned  to  Saxony,  which  compensated  for  its 
comparative  deficiency  in  architectural  respects  by  the  excellence 
of  its  monumental  sculpture.  The  Saxon  artists  in  this  branch  had 


444 


SCULPTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


gradually  overcome  the  clumsiness  which  was  still  universal  in  other 
parts  of  Germany,  and  was  observable  until  the  middle  of  the  twelfth 
century  even  in  the  districts  of  the  Hartz,  for  instance  at  Goslar, 
Merseburg,  and  Gernrode.  The  influence  is  still  to  be  traced  which 
was  exercised  upon  sculpture  in  stone  by  the  bronze  statuary  of 
Bernward  of  Hildesheim  and  his  successors.  Yet  the  stone  reliefs 


Fig.  271. — Carved  Support  from  the  Crypt  of  the  Cathedral  of  Freising. 

at  Hildesheim  itself,  and  at  Halberstadt,  Hamersleben,  Hecklingen, 
and  Koenigslutter,  with  all  the  traditional  types  and  Byzantine 
limitations,  especially  apparent  in  the  draperies,  betray  a  better 
understanding  of  form,  even  approaching  to  the  classic  style.  Ro- 
manic sculpture,  however,  attained  its  greatest  eminence  in  Eastern 
Saxony.  The  works  there  preserved  almost  equal  in  artistic  excel- 


GERMANY.  4At 

445 


lence  those  of  the  Pisani.  The  pulpit  of  Wechselburg  (Fig.  272), 
notwithstanding  its  striking  resemblance  to  the  similar  creations  of 
Niccolo  Pisano,  can  by  no  means  be  considered  as  an  imitation, 
since  it  must  have  been  executed  soon  after,  if  not  at  the  time  of, 
the  completion  of  that  church  in  1184.  It  may  be,  however,  that, 
as  in  the  beginning  of  this  period,  during  the  reign  of  Henry  II., 


Fig.  272. — The  Pulpit  of  Wechselburg. 

the  classic  impulse  was  strongly  felt  in  the  North,  as  would  naturally 
result  from  the  considerable  intercourse  between  Germany  and  Italy 
through  the  expeditions  of  the  emperors  to  Rome.  This  was  es- 
pecially the  case  in  the  time  of  the  Hohenstaufens,  who  brought 
the  classic  style  into  fashion  in  the  same  manner  as  the  Ottos  had 
fostered  Byzantinism  at  their  court.  The  Italian  character  of  the 
architectural  framework  of  the  pulpit  is  no  less  surprising  than  are 


446  SCULPTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

the  classic  forms  of  the  sculptures  in  high -relief  upon  the  three 
panels  of  the  parapet.  These  represent,  upon  the  front,  Christ,  with 
the  symbols  of  the  Evangelists,  the  Virgin,  and  St.  John  ;  upon  one 
side,  the  miracle  of  the  Brazen  Serpent,  and,  upon  the  other,  the  sac- 
rifices of  Cain,  Abel,  and  Abraham. 

While  the  connection  of  these  sculptures  with  those  of  Saxony 
before  mentioned  is  still  evident,  it  is  scarcely  to  be  traced  in  the 
altar-piece  of  the  same  church  at  Wechselburg,  a  work  of  somewhat 
later  date  and  of  a  style  even  more  perfect.  This  altar-piece,  the  lower 
parts  of  which  are  of  the  same  red  sandstone  as  the  pulpit,  contains 
in  the  niches  four  representations  in  relief  of  figures  from  the  Old 
Testament,  very  similar  in  character  to  the  sculptures  of  the  portal  of 
the  Cathedral  of  Freiberg.  Its  execution  cannot  be  ascribed  to  a  pe- 
riod later  than  the  first  half  of  the  thirteenth  century.  This  is  plain 
from  the  date  of  the  completion  of  the  edifice,  as  well  as  from  the 
fact  that  the  same  artistic  character  is  recognizable  in  the  funeral 
monument  of  Count  Dedo  and  his  wife  Mechthilde,  in  the  choir  of 
this  church,  which  must  have  been  erected  soon  after  the  death  of 
the  Count  in  1 190.  From  this  it  appears  that  the  Golden  Portal  of 
the  Cathedral  of  Freiberg  in  the  Erzgebirge  was  also  built  before 
the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century.  In  the  eight  figures  of  the 
side  walls,  almost  of  life  size,  the  awkwardness  of  the  position  and 
action  so  noticeable  in  the  pulpit  of  Wechselburg  is  entirely  over- 
come ;  the  proportions  are  harmonious,  the  heads  and  hands,  with 
all  their  ecclesiastical  solemnity,  are  of  a  perfect  beauty  and  signifi- 
cance, and  the  draperies  are  almost  faultless.  In  dignified  elegance 
these  sculptures  are  fully  equal  to  those  of  Niccolo  Pisano,  being 
only  surpassed  by  the  best  works  of  the  French  Gothic.  The  same 
may  be  said  of  the  relief  in  the  tympanon  of  the  portal,  with  the 
representation  of  the  Virgin  enthroned,  adored  on  one  side  by  the 
Magi,  on  the  other  by  the  angel  and  the  donor.  In  composition 
this  is  decidedly  superior  to  the  crowded  designs  of  Niccolo  Pisano. 
The  figures  placed  upon  brackets  between  the  mouldings  of  the 
arch,  as  was  customary  in  the  portals  of  the  Gothic  style,  are  less 
successful,  those  in  a  sitting  posture  particularly  being  cramped  by 
the  limited  space. 

Not  only  the  last-named  figures  but  all  those  of  the  portal  indi- 


GERMANY. 

cate  an  influence  which  renders  this  celebrated  work  a  kind  of  an- 
achronism. There  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  the  artist  of  the 
Golden  Portal  was  acquainted  with  similar  sculptures  of  the  French 
Gothic  dating  to  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century,  and  received  from 
them  his  chief  inspiration.  This  work  consequently  holds  a  place 
between  the  two  styles.  While  still  Romanic  in  its  architectural 
details,  it  distinctly  shows  in  its  sculpture  a  dependence  upon  Gothic 
models.  As  Gothic  methods  of  design  were  almost  unknown  in 
Germany  at  a  time  when  they  were  approaching  their  perfection  in 
France,  this  work  is  to  be  considered  as  a  solitary  forerunner  of  that 
style. 

The  sculpture  of  Eastern  Saxony  seems  to  have  exerted  its 
influence  over  a  wide  district.  In  Silesia,— instance  the  Church  of 
the  Magdalen  in  Breslau, — and  far  into  the  Austrian  countries,  in- 
clusive of  Moravia  and  Hungary,  unmistakable  evidences  of  this 
can  be  traced ;  and  decorations  in  relief,  such  as  those  in  the  east- 
ern choir  of  the  Cathedral  of  Bamberg,  could  scarcely  have  been 
executed  without  the  help  of  Saxony.  It  is  true  that  in  Bamberg 
the  cathedral  treasures  of  the  time  of  Henry  II.  provided  many 
models  for  imitation  in  sculpture,  the  artistic  activity,  at  least  in 
ivory  carvings,  having  been  as  important  at  the  close  of  the  Ro- 
manic epoch  as  at  its  commencement. 

Germany  was  less  productive  in  wood  carvings  during  this  pe- 
riod. The  altars  were  generally  of  stone,  the  utensils  for  them  of 
metal.  Among  the  interior  fittings  of  churches  and  palaces  what- 
ever could  not  be  executed  in  these  materials  was  made  of  wood, 
entirely  without  ornament.  Even  in  the  doors  of  the  magnificent 
Romanic  portals,  and  wherever  a  rich  framework  of  stone  rendered 
it  desirable  to  give  artistic  importance  to  the  wood,  the  antique, 
Byzantine,  and  Carolingian  traditions  were  not  abandoned,  the  dec- 
orations being  limited  to  a  metal  revetment  of  the  wooden  panels. 
Thus  there  is  but  one  example  referable  to  the  Romanic  epoch  of  a 
wooden  door  carved  in  figures,  namely  that  in  the  left  transept  of 
St.  Mary  of  the  Capitol.  Wooden  carvings  of  figures  in  round  pan- 
els, as  well  as  in  high  -  reliefs,  may  have  been  somewhat  more  fre- 
quent, though  not  as  common  as  they  became  during  the  Gothic 
period. 


448 


SCULPTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


Among  the  oldest  and  most  important  wood  carvings  of  this  class 
are  the  three  figures  in  high-relief  of  the  portico  of  St.  Emmeramnus 
in  Ratisbon  (Fig.  273),  representing  Christ,  St.  Dionysius,  and  St. 
Emmeramnus.  At  the  feet  of  Christ  is  an  inscription  of  the  donor, 
Reginward,  abbot  from  1049  to  I(^4,  according  to  which  this  work 
must  have  been  executed  about  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century. 

In  these  carvings,  which  without  doubt 
were  originally  colored,  the  attitude  and 
treatment  are  still  rigid  and  awkward, 
and  the  characteristics  of  Byzantine 
metal  and  ivory  work  are  plainly  recog- 
nizable. The  farther  north,  the  more 
noticeable  is  the  influence  of  those 
braided  patterns  which  played  so  prom- 
inent a  part  in  the  wood  carving  of 
Scandinavia,  while  in  the  representation 
of  figures  no  progress  is  to  be  observed 
in  this  branch  during  the  eleventh  and 
twelfth  centuries.  The  truly  admirable 
crucifix  with  the  figures  of  the  Virgin 
and  St.  John  which  surmounts  the  high 
altar  in  Wechselburg  is,  therefore,  the 
more  remarkable.  What  has  already 
been  said  of  the  stone  sculptures  in 
Freiberg  is  true  of  this  wonderful  pro- 
duction, which  also  betrays  a  depend- 
ence upon  the  early  works  of  the  French 
Gothic;  and  yet,  withal,  it  is  an  anom- 
aly: so  fine  a  feeling  for  beauty,  such 
Fig.  273.-Carving  of  Wood  from  understanding  of  form,  in  short,  feat- 
St.  Emmeramnus,  Ratisbon.  ures  of  such  excellence  are,  for  the  en- 
tire thirteenth  century  in  Germany, 

enigmatical.  The  work  is  probably  dependent  upon  the  sculptures 
at  Freiberg,  but  so  far  surpasses  these  that  it  is  doubtful  whether  it 
can  be  ascribed  to  an  earlier  date  than  the  end  of  the  century  in 
question. 

With  exception  of  the  last-named  Saxon  examples,  sculpture  in 


GERMANY. 

stone  and  wood  during  the  Romanic  epoch  was  inferior  to  that  in 
metals.  Casting  in  metal  must  have  been  handed  down  from  the 
time  of  Charlemagne.  The  fact  that  the  Bishop  of  Verden,  about 
the  year  990,  gave  six  bronze  columns  to  the  Convent  of  Corvey 
does  not,  indeed,  prove  this  assumption,  as  these  columns  might 
have  come  to  Verden  from  the  foundery  of  Charlemagne  at  Aix-la- 
Chapelle.  Still,  it  is  known  with  certainty  that,  a  few  years  later, 
Abbot  Deuthemar  ordered  six  more  columns,  corresponding  to  the 
first,  to  be  executed  by  the  bronze  founder  Gottfried  of  Corvey, 
and  that,  in  1004,  Abbot  Hosad  of  Corvey  had  a  monument  cast  in 
honor  of  a  learned  monk  Widukind  of  that  convent.  Existing  re- 
mains prove  that  bronze  casting  was  practised,  during  the  following 
decades,  in  Mayence,  Hildesheim,  and  Augsburg. 

Archbishop  Willigis  of  Mayence,  in  the  gates  of  the  Cathedral 
cast  in  1007  by  Master  Beringer,  had  still  followed  the  Carolingian 
traditions.  The  decorations  were  restricted  to  the  mouldings,  the 
panels  themselves  being  entirely  without  figures  in  relief,  which 
were  first  introduced  in  the  door  of  the  Cathedral  of  Hildesheim, 
dating  to  the  year  1015.  As,  in  Italy,  the  Byzantine  execution  of 
bronze  doors  was  chiefly  in  niello,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  cele- 
brated work  of  Bishop  Bernward  of  Hildesheim  shows  no  remi- 
niscences of  earlier  monumental  sculptures.  The  greater,  therefore, 
is  the  artistic  importance  of  this  independent  production,  which  is 
indeed  a  worthy  representative  of  the  progress  made  by  Saxon  art 
in  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  century.  It  consists  of  sixteen 
Biblical  scenes :  upon  the  left  door  those  of  the  Old  Testament, 
from  the  creation  of  Eve  to  the  murder  of  Abel;  upon  the  right, 
those  from  the  New  Testament,  from  the  Annunciation  to  the  Res- 
urrection (Fig.  274).  In  conception  and  composition  these  are  less 
influenced  by  the  work  in  precious  metals  and  ivory  than  by  monu- 
mental and  miniature  painting,  which  by  this  time  had  freed  itself 
almost  entirely  from  Byzantine  traditions.  It  thus  resulted  that 
these  reliefs,  in  composition,  as  well  as  in  the  execution  of  the  de- 
tails, show  a  decided  want  of  style.  A  certain  hesitation  and  inex- 
perience is  evident  in  the  unequal  heights  of  the  relief,  the  legs 
being  flat,  the  upper  portions  of  the  bodies  high,  the  heads,  and  in 

part  also  the  arms,  in  the  full  round  and  detached  from  the  back- 

29 


450 


SCULPTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


ground,  while  the  accessaries  of  architecture  and  foliage  are  pitiably 
bungling.  Nevertheless,  the  energy  and  direct  truthfulness  of  ac- 
tion, the  expressive  gestures,  and  the  comparative  correctness  of 
form,  even  in  the  more  difficult  positions,  command  an  interest  and 
a  respect  due  only  to  original  creations, — never  to  a  merely  tradi- 
tional work,  however  superior  in  technical  respects. 

Such  originality  is  not  found  in  the  Column  of  Bernward,  which 
is  said  to  have  been  placed  in  the  Church  of  St.  Michael  in  Hildes- 
heim  in  1022,  and  now  stands,  mutilated,  in  the  Domplatz  of  that 
town.  This  may  or  may  not  have  been  dependent  upon  the  brazen 


Fig.  274. — Adoration  of  the  Magi.     Relief  upon  the  Bronze  Gates  of  Hildesheim. 

columns  of  Corvey,  but  certainly  owes  its  spiral  decoration  of  reliefs 
to  reminiscences  of  the  Column  of  Trajan  or  that  of  Marcus  Aure- 
lius.  The  influence  of  these  models  is  unmistakable,  not  only  in  the 
arrangement  of  the  spiral  reliefs  of  Biblical  subjects,  but  also  in  the 
conventional  treatment  of  the  figures,  which,  in  their  dull  and  heavy 
imitation  of  the  classic  style,  differ  greatly  from  those  upon  the  door 
of  the  Cathedral  of  Hildesheim. 

The  somewhat  more  recent  bronze  gates  of  the  Cathedral  of 
Augsburg  (Fig.  275)  also  do  not  attain  to  the  pleasing  effect  of  those 
of  Hildesheim,  although  their  low-relief  and  more  equal  projection 
of  the  figures  from  the  background  are  in  better  accordance  with  the 


GERMANY. 


451 


conventional  requirements  of  this  kind  of  work.    The  unpretentious 
representations,  mostly  limited  to  single  figures,  are  quite  without 
that  bold  energy  which  causes  the  artist  to  risk  a  technical  error  in 
order  to  convey  his  idea  to  the  beholder.     They  are  consequently 
lacking  in  effect,  it  being  often  difficult  to  recognize  the  subjects. 
The  reliefs  are  without  systematic  connection,  the  scenes  being  fre- 
quently repeated  in  a  vex- 
atious manner, — the  result 
of  their   having    been   re- 
arranged, and  possibly  the 
putting    together    of  two 
similar  sets  of  panels  dur- 
ing a  reconstruction  of  the 
building.      Recent  investi- 
gations, however,  have  suc- 
ceeded in  offering  an  ac- 
ceptable   explanation     of 
their  meaning.*    The  sub- 
jects, taken  from  the  Old 
Testament,  are   the    crea- 
tion of  Eve  and  her  pres- 
entation to  Adam  as  his 
wife,  the  Garden  of  Eden 
with    the    tempting     and 
accursed    Serpent,    Moses 
seizing  his  rod  transformed 
into  a  serpent,  the  miracle 
wrought   by   Aaron    upon 
the  rods  of  the  Egyptians, 
and  Samson    rending   the 

lion  and  slaying  the  Philistines.  These  were  chosen,  without  doubt, 
because  of  their  typological  relation  to  Christ,  such  parallels  being 
customary  in  the  homilies  of  that  age.  The  scenes  from  the  New 
Testament  —  the  parables  of  the  woman  seeking  the  piece  of  sil- 
ver, the  birds  of  heaven,  and  the  vineyard — were  conceived  as  alle- 


Fig.  275. — Part  of  one  of  the  Bronze  Doors  of  the 
Cathedral  of  Augsburg. 


*  J.  Merz,  Die  Bildwerke  an  der  Erzthlire  des  Augsburger  Domes.     Stuttgart,  1885. 


452 


SCULPTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


gories  of  the  Church.  Typological,  also,  are  the  figures  Melchize- 
dek,  Moses,  Aaron,  David,  Judas  Maccabaeus  and  the  Prophets, 
while  lions  and  centaurs  appear  as  symbols  of  evil.  The  conven- 
tional style  of  these  sculptures  betrays  many  reminiscences  of  the 

minor  works  of  antiquity,  especially 
gems  and  coins. 

To  the  same  category  with  these 
doors  belongs  the  so-called  Altar  of 
Crodo,  formed  of  sheets  of  bronze, 
which  was  removed  from  the  portico 
of  the  Cathedral  of  Goslar,  now  de- 
stroyed. The  four  male  figures  which 
uphold  this  altar  are  sculptured  in  the 
full  round  ;  they  are,  however,  of  but 
slight  artistic  value.  The  same  may 
be  said  of  the  statue  of  the  Lampa- 
dophorus  in  the  Cathedral  of  Erfurt. 
In  hardness  and  helplessness  these  are 
even  surpassed  by  the  figure  of  Arch- 
bishop Gisilerius,  executed  in  high-re- 
lief, soon  after  1004,  in  Magdeburg. 
The  gigantic  crucifix  of  Bernward  of 
Hildesheim,  in  the  Cathedral  of  Bruns- 
wick, is  also  exceedingly  stiff;  the  con- 
ception of  the  Saviour  as  living,  wear- 
ing a  long  tunic  and  without  the  crown 
of  thorns,  is,  however,  remarkable  in 
iconographic  respects.  The  next  fol- 
lowing work  of  importance  which  can 
be  accurately  dated  is  the  funeral  mon- 
ument of  the  Pretender  Rudolph  of 
Suabia,  who  died  in  1080  (Fig.  276). 
It  shows  no  progress  commensurate 
with  the  great  advance  made  in  architecture  during  this  age.  In- 
deed, more  was  achieved  at  that  time  by  the  school  of  Dinant, 
which  must  be  considered  as  belonging  to  France,  notwithstand- 
ing the  fact  that  it  derived  its  origin  from  the  Carolingian  foun- 


Fig.  276.— Tomb  of  the  Pretender  Ru- 
dolph of  Suabia,  in  the  Cathedral 
of  Merseburg. 


GERMANY. 

dery  of  Aix-la-Chapelle.  The  artistic  excellence  of  the  school  of 
Dinant  was  equalled  in  Germany  only  towards  the  close  of  the 
twelfth  century,  at  which  time  bronze  casting  was  again  cultivated 
in  the  Saxon  countries.  The  baptismal  font  in  the  Cathedral  of 
Osnabrueck,  with  its  five  representations  in  relief,  can  scarcely  be 
compared  with  that  of  Liege;  neither  can  the  tombstone  of  the 
archbishop  to  Frederick  Barbarossa,  in  the  Cathedral  of  Magdeburg, 
nor  the  brazen  lion  on  the  Cathedral  Square  of  Brunswick,  dating 
to  1 1 66,  though  all  these  works  are  of  tolerable  perfection  in  tech- 
nical respects.  At  all  events,  the  magnificent  font  in  the  Cathedral 
of  Hildesheim,  referable  to  the  first  half  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
far  surpasses  all  preceding  works  in  beauty  of  form  and  execution. 
The  allegorical  figures  of  the  four  rivers  of  Paradise  which,  kneel- 
ing with  their  urns,  support  the  basin,  are  superior  to  all  previous 
productions  in  the  full  round ;  but  the  advance  is  even  more  appar- 
ent in  the  reliefs  upon  the  basin  itself,  which  represent  the  passage 
of  the  Red  Sea,  Joshua  crossing  the  Jordan,  the  Baptism  of  Christ, 
and  the  donor,  Canon  Wilbernus,  adoring  the  Virgin.  The  reliefs 
upon  the  cover  are  not  inferior;  they  show  the  blossoming  rod  of 
Aaron,  the  Massacre  of  the  Innocents,  the  Magdalen  anointing  the 
feet  of  the  Saviour,  and  the  Works  of  Mercy. 

The  admiration  excited  in  England  by  the  metal  works  (Opus 
Tentonicwn)  of  Germany  in  the  eleventh  century  can  hardly  have 
decreased  during  the  twelfth,  although  the  exportation  to  the  West 
was  somewhat  limited  by  the  competition  of  the  school  of  Dinant. 
Moreover,  the  fame  and  the  productions  of  the  Saxon  founderies 
were  extended  to  the  farthest  East,  as  is  proved  by  the  door  of  the 
Cathedral  of  Gnesen,  with  its  eighteen  representations  from  the  life 
of  St.  Adalbert ;  and  also  the  door  of  the  Church  of  St.  Sophia  in 
Novgorod,  which  was  probably  cast  towards  the  middle  of  the  twelfth 
century  by  Master  Riquinus  in  Magdeburg,  under  the  superintend- 
ence of  the  archbishop  Wichmann  of  that  place.  The  progress  and 
greater  technical  ability  evident  in  these  doors,  when  compared  with 
those  of  Hildesheim,  is  as  unmistakable  as  is  their  artistic  inferior- 
ity to  the  reliefs  of  the  before-mentioned  font  of  Hildesheim. 

In  the  altars  themselves  goldsmiths'  work  was  in  some  cases 
substituted  for  castings  in  bronze.  The  high  altar  of  the  Abbey 


454  SCULPTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

Church  of  Petershausen,  near  Constance,  dating  to  the  year  983, 
must  have  been  more  remarkable  for  its  rich  material  than  for  its 
artistic  and  technical  excellence.  The  mensa  was  closed  in  front 
by  a  golden  antependium  richly  set  with  jewels,  and  behind  by  a 
silver  panel  with  a  gilded  relief  of  the  Virgin  ;  the  wooden  columns 
of  the  ciborium  placed  above  the  altar,  and  the  arches  connecting 
them,  as  well  as  the  coffered  ceiling,  were  reveted,  partly  with  beat- 
en silver  and  partly  with  gilded  sheets  of  copper,  the  whole  being 
intended  to  imitate  the  gaudy  magnificence  of  the  Ark  of  the  Cov- 
enant. Such  riches  in  the  altar  offered  a  temptation  which  could 
not  be  resisted  in  the  financial  difficulties  experienced  by  the  clois- 
ter during  the  twelfth  century.  In  like  manner  the  altar,  reveted 
with  gold  and  set  with  precious  stones,  which  was  founded  by 
Henry  II.  in  the  Cathedral  of  Merseburg,  was  seized  as  booty  by  a 
band  of  plundering  soldiers  in  the  year  1547.  The  gigantic  crucifix, 
which  is  said  to  have  been  executed  by  Archbishop  Willigis  about 
the  year  1000,  and  was  at  times  erected  before  the  altar,  has  like- 
wise disappeared.  The  beams  of  this  were  entirely  covered  with 
sheets  of  gold,  and  the  hollow  figure  of  the  Saviour,  over  life-size 
and  filled  with  relics,  was  of  beaten  gold :  the  whole  contained  six 
hundred  pounds  of  pure  gold,  and  its  material  value  was  increased 
by  precious  stones,  among  which  were  carbuncles  of  the  size  of 
doves'  eggs,  forming  the  eyes.  That  these  works  were  not  entirely 
without  artistic  importance  is  proved  by  the  golden  antependiums 
of  this  period  which  have  been  preserved.  The  finest  among  these 
is  that  of  the  Minster  of  Basle,  now  in  the  Musee  Cluny  (Fig.  277). 
It  is  divided  into  five  arcades  with  columns ;  all  the  surfaces  and 
mouldings  are  richly  ornamented  with  vines,  while  the  niches  con- 
tain the  figures  of  Christ,  with  the  donors  Henry  II.  and  Kunigunde 
at  his  feet,  the  archangels  Michael,  Gabriel,  and  Raphael,  and  St. 
Benedict,  all  of  beaten  metal -work.  Of  the  antependium  of  the 
Minster  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  perhaps  referable  to  the  time  of  the 
Ottos,  only  seventeen  single  panels  of  beaten  gold  still  remain,  these 
being  now  attached  to  a  shrine  of  the  treasury  of  that  church.  The 
gold  antependium  in  the  Abbey  Church  of  Komburg  in  Wurtem- 
berg,  especially  remarkable  for  its  enamels,  is  of  considerably  later 
date.  When  the  ecclesiastical  resources  did  not  suffice,  and  no  as- 


GERMANY. 


455 


sistance  was  obtained  from  imperial  donations,  the  antependiums 
were  made  of  copper  beaten  and  gilded.  Examples  of  this  kind  of 
work  is  that  from  Queren  in  Angeln,  referable  to  about  1 100,  now 
preserved  in  the  Germanic  Museum  at  Nuremberg,  and  that  from 
the  Church  of  St.  Ursula,  now  in  the  Chapel  of  the  Town  Hall  in 
Cologne.  Mention  is  also  to  be  made  of  the  gilded  copper  revet- 
ment of  the  parapet  of  the  ambo  in  the  Minster  of  Aix-la-Chapelle, 
which  is  richly  adorned  with  enamels,  precious  stones,  and  ivory 
carvings  (Fig.  278). 


El  N-flSI  CLEINEN  IS  NE  I    HIATIOKV   ISIAS 


Fig.  277. — Antependium  of  Gold  from  the  Minster  of  Basle,  now  in  the  Musee  Cluny. 


Though  in  all  these  monumental  works  the  native  character  ap- 
pears in  the  greater  freedom  of  the  types,  Byzantine  tradition  is 
unmistakable  in  the  composition,  the  forms,  and  technical  treat- 
ment, and  this  is  in  nothing  more  evident  than  in  the  utensils  of 
metal.  These  smaller  works  held  a  position  in  regard  to  monu- 
mental sculptures  similar  to  that  of  miniature  paintings  to  wall  dec- 
orations. The  imported  objects  were  of  direct  influence  upon  metal 
utensils,  as  had  been  the  case  for  centuries  with  goldsmiths'  work, 
and  this  influence  was  fostered  anew  by  the  court  of  the  empress 


456 


SCULPTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


Theophanu  (compare  page  412.)  This  would  be  sufficiently  shown 
by  the  technical  execution,  even  were  it  not  for  the  inscriptions  in 
Greek  letters.  The  preference  for  filigree  ornaments,  for  rows  of 
pearls  and  precious  stones,  and  decorations  in  enamel  and  niello  is 
decidedly  Byzantine.  This  character  is  more  perceptible  in  orna- 
mentations than  in  figures,  though  these  latter  show  more  traces  of 

this  style  when  represented 
in  enamel  and  niello  than  in 
relief. 

It  can,  however,  by  no 
means  be  assumed  that  even 
enamels  were  limited  to  im- 
portations from  Greece  or  to 
the  works  of  native-born 
Greeks.  This  is  true  espe- 
cially of  the  so-called  emdil 
champlevt,  or  enamel  upon 
deepened  ground,  which  more 
and  more  supplanted  the  old- 
er tmail  cloisonn^,  or  enamel 
with  inlaid  metal  lines,  and 
came  to  be  the  prevailing  in- 
dustry of  the  North  in  this 
branch.  The  former  differs 
from  the  latter  in  that  the 
panels  for  the  pigments  are 
cut  or  beaten  into  the  sheet 
of  gold  or  copper.  It  first 
appears  in  Germany  in  the 
crucifix  of  the  abbess  The- 
ophanu, between  1039  and 
1054,  in  the  Collegiate  Church  of  Essen.  In  the  email  cloisonne, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  colored  panels  were  separated  by  soldered 
gold  threads.  This  method  was  chiefly  practised  in  the  provinces 
of  Cologne,  Treves,  and  Lorraine,  and  was  afterwards  introduced 
into  Limoges.  In  connection  with  a  number  of  excellent  produc- 
tions in  this  branch  the  names  of  German  artists  are  mentioned, 


Fig.  278. — Ambo  in  the  Choir  of  the  Minster  of 
Aix-la-Chapelle. 


GERMANY. 


457 


among  them  Eilbert  of  Cologne,  who  executed  the  portable  altar  in 
the  private  treasury  of  the  House  of  Hanover;  Nicolaus  of  Verdun, 
the  designer  of  the  antependium  in  Klosterneuburg,  and  of  the  reli- 
quary of  Tournai ;  and  Henricus  Gustos  of  Siegburg,  the  artist  of 
the  shrine  of  Anno  in  Siegburg  near  Bonn.  Niello,  an  engraving  of 
lines  upon  a  combination  of  metals  on  a  flat  surface,  bearing  some 
relation  to  the  email  champlevt,  seems  to  have  been  first  employed 
in  the  portable  altar  of  the  treasury  of  the  Cathedral  of  Paderborn, 
probably  consecrated  by  Bishop  Henry  II. 

The  chief  opportunities  for  magnificent  work  in  gold  decorated 
with  enamel  and  jewels  were  offered  by  the  reliquaries.  These  were 
generally  treated  after  the  manner  of  the  early  Christian  sarcophagi, 


Fig.  279.— Shrine  of  Charlemagne  in  the  Minster  of  Aix-la-Chapelle. 

with  reminiscences,  more  or  less  distinct,  of  the  columnar  arcades 
and  gables  of  the  basilicas,— the  surfaces  of  the  sides  and  lids  being 

o 

covered  by  tablets  in  relief,  surrounded  by  ornamented  frames  in 
the  same  way  as  were  the  doors  and  antependiums.  The  finest 
works  of  the  kind  are  the  Shrine  of  the  Magi  in  the  Cathedral  of 
Cologne,  dating  to  1198,  the  Shrine  of  Charlemagne  in  the  Minster 
of  Aix-la-Chapelle  (Fig.  279),  referable  to  the  first  half  of  the  thir- 
teenth century,  and  the  shrine  above  the  former  coronation  altar  in 
the  same  church,  which  is  similar  to  the  last-mentioned  example 
but  of  somewhat  later  date.  The  first-mentioned  reliquary  imitates 
the  exterior  of  a  three-aisled  basilica  in  the  elevation  of  the  central 
portion  above  the  lower  lean-to  roofs  of  the  sides,  while  the  arcades 


458  SCULPTURE  OF  THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

in  relief  on  the  sides  and  fronts  appear  as  a  reminiscence  of  the  in- 
terior memberment.  The  two  shrines  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  are  sim- 
pler, and  present  the  forms  of  a  one -aisled  building,  though  in  the 
shrine  of  the  coronation  altar  a  transept  is  indicated.  The  sculpt- 
ures and  ornaments,  however,  both  in  artistic  and  material  value, 
are  scarcely  inferior  to  those  of  the  shrine  of  Cologne.  These  works 
appear  to  be  from  the  same  school,  and  that  this  had  its  chief  seat 
in  Cologne  is  made  probable  by  the  existence  of  five  similar  works 
in  that  city.  Others  are  found  at  Siegburg,  Osnabrueck,  and  Hil- 
desheim, — this  latter  place,  after  the  age  of  Bernward,  having  held 
a  position  in  regard  to  metal  work  fully  equal  to  that  of  the  towns 
of  the  Middle  Rhine.  The  reliquaries  differed  occasionally  from  the 
form  of  a  shrine,  according  to  the  character  of  the  objects  which 
they  contained.  An  instance  of  this  is  the  receptacle  for  the  staff  of 
St.  Peter  in  the  treasury  of  the  Cathedral  of  Limburg  on  the  Lahn, 
with  an  inscription  of  the  donor,  Archbishop  Egbert  of  Treves,  dat- 
ing to  980.  Other  casings  are  in  the  form  of  a  bust,  for  skulls,  or 
in  that  of  an  arm,  a  foot,  or  even  a  finger,  for  the  corresponding 
parts  of  the  skeleton.  It  resulted  from  the  nature  of  these  objects, 
as  well  as  from  the  peculiarity  of  the  shape,  that  the  decoration  of 
the  shrines  should  be  more  frequently  of  jewels  and  enamel  than 
of  figures. 

As  has  been  seen,  the  miniatures  executed  for  the  secular  and 
ecclesiastical  princes  were  in  striking  contrast  to  the  modest  works 
in  pen-drawing  intended  for  the  use  of  the  monks,  and  in  like  man- 
ner the  reliquaries  for  the  country  churches  were  very  different  from 
the  magnificent  shrines  of  the  cathedrals  and  rich  abbeys.  This  was 
true  in  regard  to  material  as  well  as  form.  The  rude  copper  work 
of  a  reliquary  in  the  Germanic  Museum  at  Nuremberg,  dating  to  the 
eleventh  century,  is  of  extreme  clumsiness,  and  the  ungainly  figures 
in  the  group  of  the  crucifixion  above  the  shrine  barely  suffice  to  in- 
dicate the  nature  of  the  scene.  Still,  even  the  poorest  copper  reli- 
quaries, notwithstanding  the  awkwardness  of  the  figures,  the  lack  of 
trained  skill,  and  the  hastiness  attendant  upon  badly  paid  work,  gen- 
erally have  some  decoration  in  enamel. 

Similar  in  character  to  the  reliquaries,  and  in  a  certain  sense 
to  be  classed  with  them,  are  the  portable  altars.  As  these  were 


GERMANY.  459 

granted  only  to  princes,  secular  or  ecclesiastical,  many  of  them  were 
of  the  greatest  richness  and  elaboration.  Among  them  is  to  be  men- 
tioned that  in  the  Museum  of  Darmstadt,  dating  to  the  tenth  cen- 
tury, that  from  the  cathedral  treasure  of  Henry  II.  in  Bamberg,  now 
in  the  National  Museum  at  Munich,  two  in  Siegburg,  and  a  fifth,  dat- 
ing to  the  eleventh  century,  preserved  in  Paderborn.  Of  particular 
beauty  is  the  portable  altar  in  the  Collegiate  Church  of  Melk  (Fig. 
280),  executed  between  1056  and  1075,  the  sides  of  which  are  orna- 
mented with  ivory  reliefs.  Another  altar,  now  in  Frankfort-on-the- 
Main,  though  surmounted  by  an  ivory  triptych,  is  also  referable  to 
the  eleventh  century;  a  similar  adjunct  appears  in  the  shape  of  a 
diptych  on  an  altar  of  this  kind,  of  enamelled  copper,  now  in  the 
Archiepiscopal  Museum  of  Cologne. 


Fig.  280.— Portable  Altar  in  the  Collegiate  Church  of  Melk. 

Of  greater  importance  are  the  numerous  crucifixes  of  this  period, 
both  those  standing  upon  the  altars  and  those  intended  to  be  removed 
from  place  to  place.  In  the  costly  enamelled  gold  crucifix  with  the 
Latin  inscription  of  Queen  Gisela  of  Hungary,  wife  of  Stephen  the 
Holy,  which  is  now  in  the  Reiche  Kapelle  in  the  royal  palace  in 
Munich,  the  pronounced  Byzantine  character  is  to  be  explained  by 
the  nationality  of  the  donor;  but  in  general  it  resulted,  from  the 
nature  of  the  subject,  that  the  Byzantine  types  were  more  closely 
followed  in  these  works.  This  is  proved,  among  others,  by  the  four 
crucifixes  from  the  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries  in  the  treasury  of 
the  Collegiate  Church  at  Essen,  by  the  crucifix  of  Lothair  in  the 
Minster  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  and  by  that  in  the  Church  of  St.  Mau- 
rice at  Muenster,  dating  to  the  eleventh  century.  Examples  of  such 


460 


SCULPTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


magnificence  as  these  are  rare,  but  all  larger  collections  of  antiquities 
contain  numerous  crucifixes  of  gilded  copper,  brass,  ivory,  etc.,  the 
artistic  and  material  value  of  which  are  usually  about  equal. 

Among  the  utensils  for  illumination  the  chandeliers  were  the 
first  to  receive  a  more  independent  ornamentation.  There  still  ex- 
ist in  Germany  four  of  those  huge  circles  which  were  intended  to 
represent  the  surrounding  walls  of  the  Heavenly  Jerusalem,  with 
towers  and  gates  according  to  the  description  of  the  Apocalypse : 

two  of  the  eleventh  century 
in  the  Cathedral  of  Hildes- 
heim,  and  two  of  the  twelfth 
in  Aix-la-Chapelle  and  in 
Komburg.  The  greatest  elab- 
oration in  this  branch  was  de- 
voted to  the  seven-armed  can- 
delabra. The  most  magnifi- 
cent of  these  is  that  given  to 
the  Collegiate  Church  of  Es- 
sen by  the  abbess  Mathilde, 
who  died  A.D.  1003.  The 
forms  of  this,  as  well  as  of 
those  in  the  Cathedral  of 
Brunswick,  St.  Gangolf  in 
Bamberg,  St.  Bustorf  of  Pad- 
erborn,  the  Collegiate  Church 
of  Klosterneuburg,  and  the 
Cathedral  of  Prague,  clearly 
show  their  derivation  from 
the  relief  upon  the  Arch  of 

Titus  in  Rome.  An  improvement  in  the  style  of  decoration  is  also 
evident  in  the  Easter  candlesticks,  and,  finally,  in  those  for  the  can- 
dles used  at  the  altar.  These  latter  were  almost  exclusively  of 
copper,  ornamented  chiefly  at  their  base,  either  in  gold  and  enamel 
or  by  intertwined  animal  forms  (Fig.  281). 

The  chalice  and  the  paten,  for  the  consecration  and  communion 
of  the  wine  and  wafer  were,  almost  without  exception,  of  precious 
metal,  generally  of  gilded  silver.  The  form  of  the  chalice  of  Thas- 


Fig.  281. — Altar  Candlestick  at  Klosterau  on 
the  Inn. 


GERMANY.  46  r 

silo,  before  described,  was  maintained  until  the  end  of  the  eleventh 
century ;  after  that  time  the  cup  became  wider,  the  handle  being 
adopted  only  in  exceptional  cases.  The  decoration,  which  had  be- 
fore been  exclusively  of  enamel,  was  now  executed  in  relief,  while  the 
style  of  the  ornamentation  changed  from  the  Byzantine  to  the  Ro- 
manic. Less  attention  was  devoted,  during  this  period,  to  the  am- 
pullae, or  vessels  for  the  sacrificial  wine  and  water,  than  to  the  aqui- 

minalia,  which  contained  the  water  for  the  washing  of  the  hands 

these  usually  representing  animals,  and  being  made  either  of  copper 
or  brass  (Fig.  282).  A  great  number  of  aquiminalia,  of  the  most  va- 
rious forms,  have  been  collected  in  the  Germanic  museum  of  Nurem- 


Fig.  282. — Aquiminalia  of  Bronze. 

berg.  The  censers  were  exceedingly  simple,  consisting  merely  of 
bowls  of  iron  suspended  upon  chains.  A  few  basins  of  perforated 
work,  with  rich  covers  in  silver  or  gilded  copper,  have  been  preserved, 
as,  for  instance,  that  in  the  Cathedral  of  Treves.  The  portable  fonts 
for  the  holy  water  were  generally  of  copper ;  small  ivory  cups,  such 
as  those  used  at  court  during  the  reign  of  the  Ottos,  were  exception- 
al. Church  bells  were  not  ornamented  until  the  Gothic  period. 

The  art  of  ivory  carving  declined  during  the  Romanic  epoch, 
and  during  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries  was  almost  entirely 
limited  to  the  crosiers,  the  staves  of  abbots  and  abbesses,  and  the 
elaborate  bindings  of  manuscripts.  There  are,  it  is  true,  some  cro- 
siers,— such  as  those  in  Treves,  St.  Wolfgang,  and  Salzburg, — in  which 


462  SCULPTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

the  spiral  is  executed  in  gilded  and  enamelled  copper.  The  curve 
of  the  staff  of  rock  crystal  at  Goerz,  dating  to  the  thirteenth  century, 
is  of  silver,  gilded.  In  general,  however,  the  termination  is  of  ivory, 
and,  in  some  instances,  of  walrus  tooth.  The  covers  of  the  magnifi- 
cent codices  gave  opportunity  for  the  carving  of  figures  in  relief, 
heightened  in  effect  by  borders  of  the  richest  goldsmiths'  work. 
As  it  is  doubtful  whether  these  bindings  were  executed  at  the  same 
time  with  the  codices,  and  as  the  cameos,  diptychs,  and  enamelled 
panels  may  often  have  been  taken  from  older  collections,  it  is  im- 
possible to  give  an  accurate  date  for  these  works,  which  are  re- 
markable for  their  gold  filigree,  enamels,  and  decorations  of  jewels. 

Among  the  few  which  can  be  positively  dated,  the  most  promi- 
nent is  the  superb  binding  of  the  codex  of  Echternach,  now  in  Gotha, 
the  contents  of  which  have  been  already  described.  According  to 
the  titles  given  to  the  donors,  Otto  III.  and  Theophanu,  who  are 
represented  upon  the  cover,  this  can  only  be  referred  to  the  time  of 
the  regency  of  Theophanu,  between  985  and  991,  she  being  called 
"  Empress,"  and  Otto  "  King."  Notwithstanding  the  Latin  text  of 
the  inscribed  names  of  St.  Mary,  St.  Peter,  St.  Benedict,  St.  Boni- 
face, St.  Willibrord,  and  St.  Liudgar,  of  the  rivers  of  Paradise,  Phison, 
Geon,  Tigris,  and  Euphrates,  and  the  symbols  of  the  Evangelists, 
the  work  in  gold  and  enamel  is  so  decidedly  of  Byzantine  character, 
and  so  skilful  in  execution,  that  the  direct  influence  of  the  Eastern 
Empire  is  unmistakable.  In  consideration  of  the  limited  period 
during  which  this  influence  had  been  exercised,  its  results  are  cer- 
tainly surprising.  The  representation  of  the  Crucifixion  upon  the 
ivory  carving  which  forms  the  central  panel  is  of  a  more  indepen- 
dent design;  yet,  notwithstanding  certain  rude  and  stiff  features  of 
the  details,  its  careful  workmanship  displays  an  honest  endeavor  to 
equal  the  figures  of  the  border.  Similar  in  style,  and  of  about  the 
same  date,  are  the  rich  covers  of  the  Codex  Aureus  of  Charles  the 
Bald  from  St.  Emmeramnus,  those  of  the  codices  of  Henry  II.  in 
Munich  (Cim.  57,  58,  and  60),  and  some  other  bindings  in  Bamberg, 
Hildesheim,  Essen  (Fig.  283),  Treves,  and  Darmstadt.  None  of  these 
specimens,  however,  fully  equalled  that  of  Gotha.  In  almost  all 
the  contrast  is  very  striking  between  the  skilful  workmanship,  but 
conventional  design,  of  the  elaborately  ornamented  bindings,  and 


GERMANY. 

the  coarse  and  untrained  execution  of  the  miniature  paintings  which 
they  contained-the  illuminations  being  free  from  archaism  and  me- 
chanical imitation,  and  consequently  having  the  important  advan- 


Fig.  283.  — Cover  of  a  Codex  of  the  Abbess  Theophanu,  A.D.  1039  to  IO54«  >n  the 
Treasury  of  the  Collegiate  Church  of  Essen. 

tages  of  more  marked  individuality  and  more  decidedly  pronounced 
national  character. 

Although  the  painting  and  the  sculpture  of  Germany,  during 


464  SCULPTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

the  Romanic  ages,  were  about  equally  important  in  artistic  respects, 
it  is  yet  to  be  remarked  that  the  tendencies  of  these  two  arts,  con- 
sidered from  a  historical  stand-point,  were  decidedly  different.  The 
painters,  in  striving  for  a  striking  presentation  of  the  subjects  cho- 
sen, fell  into  the  most  undisciplined  dilettanteism  and  the  great- 
est tastelessness ;  while  the  sculptors,  and  especially  the  workers  in 
metal,  still  retained  the  traditional  methods  of  their  Byzantine  mod- 
els, thereby  securing  at  least  a  better  training  and  a  certain  degree 
of  mechanical  excellence.  Hence,  neither  of  the  arts  could  attain 
to  a  higher  importance  until  brought  into  more  intimate  relations 
with  each  other.  When  this  was  accomplished,  the  forms  and  meth- 
ods of  painting  were  greatly  improved,  and  that  new  life  was  given 
to  sculpture  which  led  to  the  successful  development  of  the  follow- 
ing period. 

The  sculpture  of  the  Romanic  period  in  Italy*  differed  essen- 
tially from  that  in  Germany.  In  the  former  country  there  was  also 
to  be  observed  that  dualism  characteristic  of  German  art  in  the  time 
of  the  first  emperors,  but  the  relation  of  the  native  methods  to  By- 
zantine traditions  appears  entirely  reversed.  In  Italy,  Byzantinism 
continued  in  the  ascendency,  in  the  Romanic  as  in  the  Carolingian 
epoch,  and  the  native  art,  even  during  the  latter  ages,  never  quite 
freed  itself  from  rudeness  and  barbarism  ;  while  in  Germany  it  had, 
from  the  beginning,  been  of  great  promise,  and  was  only  secondarily 
affected  by  Oriental  influences.  Moreover,  in  Italy  the  two  meth- 
ods were  not  united,  as  in  Germany,  to  form  a  harmonious  style, 
and  therefore  could  not  attain  to  an  independent  development. 
Byzantinism  was  prevalent,  especially  in  metal  work,  until  the  end 
of  the  twelfth  century;  but  receiving  no  fresh  impulse,  it  finally 
became  exhausted,  and  the  crude  native  dilettanteism  which  char- 
acterized sculpture  in  stone  towards  the  close  of  the  period  under 
consideration,  did  not  experience  that  salutary  discipline  and  techni- 

*  H.  W.  Schulz,  Denkmaler  der  Kunst  des  Mittelalters  in  Unteritalien.  Dresden,  1860. 
—  H.  Semper,  Uebersicht  der  Geschichte  der  toskanischen  Sculptur  bisgegen  Ende  des 
XIV.  Jahrhunderts.  Zurich,  1869.  —  The  Same,  Ueber  die  Herkunft  von  Nic.  Pisano's 
Styl.  Zeitschr.  f.  b.  K.  1871. — C.  v.  Fabriczy,  Zur  Kunstgeschichte  der  Hohenstaufenzeit. 
Zeitschr.  f.  b.  K.  1879. 


ITALY.  465 

cal  training  which  the  exact  mechanical  work  of  the  Bosporus  might 
have  given.  Thus  throughout  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries,  no 
sculptures  were  produced  in  Italy  which  could  be  compared  to  the 
works  of  Germany.  The  few  remaining  decades  of  the  Romanic  pe- 
riod could  but  suffice  for  preliminary  essays,  after  it  had  been  wisely 
resolved  to  cast  aside  the  Byzantine  traditions,  together  with  the  in- 
dependent technical  methods  of  native  workmanship,  and  to  seek 
their  models  from  among  the  classic  sculptures  of  ancient  Rome. 

The  rudeness  and  meagreness  of  Italian  stone  sculptures,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Romanic  epoch,  should  be  judged  rather  by  retro- 
spective conclusions  derived  from  later  works,  than  by  the  few 
memorials  of  this  age,  which  are  but  seldom  dated.  It  appears, 
indeed,  that  the  marble  of  the  country  was,  for  several  centuries, 
not  otherwise  employed  than  for  architectural  constructions.  Car- 
dinal Leo,  of  Ostia,  pupil  and  historian  of  Abbot  Desiderius  of 
Monte  Casino,  was  doubtless  correct  when,  about  iioo,  he  made 
the  assertion  that  Italian  art  had  been  lost  for  five  hundred  years. 
The  efforts  of  this  abbot  for  the  furtherance  of  art  appear  either 
not  to  have  been  directed  towards  sculpture  in  stone,  or  to  have 
produced  no  result  in  this  branch,  the  works  of  which,  even  as  late 
as  the  twelfth  century,  were  of  extreme  awkwardness  and  ugliness 
of  form.  If,  for  example,  the  marble  crucifix  of  the  Museum  of 
Arezzo,  or  the  statue  of  St.  Michael  in  the  Church  of  Groppoli,  near 
Pistoja,  be  compared  with  the  Descent  from  the  Cross  of  the  Exter- 
steine, —  or  the  pulpit  of  Groppoli  (Fig.  284),  dated  A.D.  1194,  with 
that  of  Wechselburg,  referable  to  about  the  same  period, —  the  su- 
periority of  Germany  is  at  once  evident.  The  low  standard  of  taste 
is  made  more  apparent  by  the  boastful  inscriptions,  which  show 
that  these  Italian  sculptures  were  by  no  means  the  works  of  obscure 
artists,  and  consequently  inferior  to  the  average  productions  of  their 
age.  Even  in  Tuscany  the  brothers  Gruamons  and  Adeodatus  were 
considered  by  their  contemporaries  as  sculptors  of  great  excellence. 
This  may  be  seen  by  the  vainglorious  inscriptions  upon  the  reliefs 
of  S.  Giovanni  Fuor  Civitas  and  of  S.  Andrea  in  Pistoja  (Fig.  285), 
dating  to  1165.  The  same  remarks  apply  to  the  sculptures  upon 
the  fa9ades  of  the  cathedrals  of  Modena  and  Ferrara,  as  well  as  of 
S.  Zeno  in  Verona,  works  of  the  masters  Wilhelmus  and  Nicolaus, 

30 


466 


SCULPTURE   OF   THE    ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


who  in  their  time  were  greatly  renowned ;  and  also  to  the  sculptures 
of  the  Porta  Romana  at  Milan,  built  between  1167  and  1171.  In  the 
inscription  of  the  latter  the  artist  is  compared  to  Daedalus,  more  fit- 
tingly, indeed,  than  could  at  that  period  have  been  understood. 
Bonus  Amicus,  sculptor  of  the  frieze  of  the  Campo  Santo  at  Pisa, 
and  that  of  the  Church  at  Mensano, — Robertus,  designer  of  the  bap- 
tismal font  of  S.  Frediano  at  Lucca, — and  Biduinus,  who  executed 


Fig.  284. — Pulpit  in  the  Chur 


aael,  Groppoli. 


the  reliefs  of  S.  Casciano,  near  Pisa,  and  those  of  S.  Carita  in  Lucca, 
were  in  no  wise  superior  to  the  masters  before  mentioned.  From 
all  these,  and  from  various  anonymous  works,  it  may  be  gathered 
that,  in  Tuscany  and  in  Upper  Italy,  sculpture  in  stone  was  more 
actively  pursued,  but,  until  towards  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century, 
was  at  the  same  low  stand-point  in  both  provinces. 

Some  few  attempts  were  made  at  this  time  to  elevate  the  stand- 
ards of  monumental  art.     Benedictus  Antelamus,  otherwise  known 


ITALY. 

as  Antelami  or  De  Antelamo,  in  the  fragment  of  a  pulpit  in  a  side 
chapel  of  the  Cathedral  at  Parma  representing  the  Crucifixion  and 
dated  1178,  exhibits  some  understanding  of  composition;  and  in 
later  sculptures  upon  the  portal  of  the  Baptistery  of  Parma,  dated 
1196,  shows  a  variety  of  subject  and  a  novelty  of  treatment  which 
is  pleasing,  despite  the  defective  form.  Neither  the  contempora- 
neous sculptures  upon  the  lower  part  of  the  fagade  of  the  Cathedral 
of  Lucca  and  upon  the  portal  of  the  Pieve  of  Arezzo,  nor  the  reliefs, 
considerably  later,  of  the  Pulpit  of  Guido  da  Como  in  S.  Bartolom- 
meo  at  Pistoja,  equalled  in  importance  those  of  Antelamus.  Other 
works,  however,  were  rendered  of  far  greater  significance  by  an 
unhesitating  return  to  classic  models.  It  is  questionable  whether 


Fig.  285. — Sculptured  Frieze  of  Gruamons  and  Adeodatus  above  the  Portal  of  S.  Andrea, 

in  Pistoja. 

these  tendencies  appeared  in  any  work  earlier  than  the  sculptures  of 
the  baptismal  font  in  the  Baptistery  of  Verona,  referable  to  the  first 
years  of  the  thirteenth  century,  in  which  the  draperies  and  gestures, 
as  well  as  certain  other  features,  breathe  the  spirit  of  the  new  style. 
These  tendencies  are  more  consequentially  and  thoroughly  developed 
in  the  choir  screen  of  the  Pieve  of  Ponte  allo  Spino  near  Siena,  now 
in  the  transept  of  the  Cathedral  at  Siena  (Fig.  286),  which  is  the 
work  of  an  anonymous  artist  of  about  the  same  period,  and  unmis- 
takably shows  the  way  to  have  been  already  open  for  a  systematic 
adoption  of  the  classic  methods  of  design. 

A  conscious  effort  to  follow  antique  models,  and  thus  to  redeem 
stone  sculpture  from  the  coarseness  and  rudeness  which  had  charac- 
terized this  art  during  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries,  is  evident 


468 


SCULPTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


not  only  in  Tuscany  and  Upper  Italy  but  also  in  the  southern  prov- 
inces. In  these  districts  such  works  as  the  sculptures  of  the  portal 
of  the  Cathedral  of  Trani,  and  the  reliefs  of  the  pulpit  of  S.  Maria 
del  Lago  at  Moscufo,  had  shown  that  no  good  results  were  to  be 
obtained  in  sculpture  through  the  imitation  of  Byzantine  paintings, 
and  also  that  the  requisite  ability  was  wanting  to  attain  satisfactory 
results  by  independent  attempts.  In  Upper  Italy  and  Tuscany  the 
commencement  of  studies  from  the  antique  seems  to  have  pro- 
ceeded solely  from  the  individual  discernment  of  the  artists  them- 
selves, while  in  Campania  it  received 
a  strong  impulse  from  the  classic  taste 
of  the  Hohenstaufens.  That  this  was 
particularly  the  case  during  the  reign 
of  Frederick  II.  is  proved  by  exist- 
ing remains.  Among  these,  mention 
should  be  made  of  the  so-called  Au- 
gustals,  gold  coins  bearing  the  por- 
trait of  the  Emperor  upon  the  obverse, 
and  the  imperial  eagle  upon  the  re- 
verse, which  were  issued  in  Brindisi 
and  Messina,  and  by  their  beauty  and 
classic  character  so  delighted  the  Em- 
peror that  in  the  year  1221  he  pre- 
sented the  crown  estate  of  Viaregio, 
near  Lucca,  to  the  superintendent  of 
the  mint,  Pagano  Balduino.  The  stat- 
ues and  busts  with  which  Frederick, 
in  1240,  ornamented  the  abutment  of 

the  bridge  over  the  Volturno,  near  Capua,  bear  the  same  close 
relation  to  the  antique ;  of  these  the  badly  weathered  torso  of 
the  statue  of  the  Emperor,  the  head  of  the  allegorical  figure  of 
Capua  Imperialis,  and  the  two  busts,  one  designated  as  that  of  the 
Chancellor  Pietro  delle  Vigne  (Fig.  287),  the  other  as  that  of  the 
Chief-justice  Taddeo  da  Sessa,  are  now  preserved  in  the  Museum 
of  Capua.  With  these  busts  may  also  be  classed  the  female  head 
upon  the  pulpit  of  the  Cathedral  of  Ravello,  dating  to  A.  D.  1272, 
which  has,  without  doubt  erroneously,  been  considered  as  the  por- 


Fig.  286.— Relief  from  the  Pieve  of 
Ponte  allo  Spino. 


ITALY-  469 

trait  of  the  foundress  Sigelgaita  Rufolo  (Fig.  288) ;  and  also  the  fe- 
male bust  from  Scala  near  Amalfi,  now  in  the  Museum  of  Berlin.  In 
all  these  works  there  was,  together  with  a  direct  conformity  to  classic 
models,  a  technical  perfection  so  remarkable  as  almost  to  make  them 
appear  as  anachronisms,  the  more  so  as  other  productions  of  Lower 
Italy  dating  to  this  period  are  different  and  decidedly  inferior.  It  is 
therefore  scarcely  possible  to  ascribe  these  sculptures  to  the  Pere- 
grinus  who  executed  the  Easter  candlestick  and  the  choir  screen  of 
Sessa.  The  artist  of  the  classic  sculptures  at  Capua  may  with  more 


Fig.  287. — Bust  known  as  that  of  Pietro 
delle  Vigne.     Museum  of  Capua. 


Fig.  288. — Bust  known  as  that  of  Sigelgaita 
Rufolo  in  the  Cathedral  of  Ravello. 


probability  be  identified  with  the  designer  of  the  Augustal  coins  ;  or 
at  least  one  common  school  may  be  assumed  for  both  ;  this  certainly 
must  have  been  earlier  than  the  time  of  Niccolo  Pisano,  and  may  be 
considered  as  presaging  the  new  era  inaugurated  by  him.  The  great 
Pisan  artist,  however,  worked  in  the  second  half  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  and  his  productions,  even  more  than  the  sculptures  of  the 
portal  at  Freiberg  or  the  altar-piece  at  Wechselburg,  belong  to  the 
beginning  of  the  Gothic  rather  than  to  the  transitional  period. 

Sculpture  in  bronze  was  taken  up  earlier  than  that  in  marble, 
although,  —  with  exception  of  certain  isolated  barbaric  attempts, 


470  SCULPTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC    EPOCH. 

such  as  the  doors  in  beaten  metal  of  S.  Zeno  in  Verona, — the  de- 
mands in  this  branch  had,  during  the  eleventh  century,  been  supplied 
by  importations  from  Byzantium.  This  is  attested  by  a  great  num- 
ber of  bronze  doors,  several  of  which  must  have  existed  in  Amalfi 
before  the  year  1062.  Among  the  many  works  of  this  kind,  dedi- 
cated by  the  wealthy  patrician  family  of  Pantaleon,  are  the  doors  of 
the  Convent  Church  of  Monte  Casino,  A.  D.  1066,  of  S.  Paolo  fuori 
le  Mura  near  Rome,  A.  D.  1076,  of  S.  Angelo  upon  Mount  Gargano, 
A.  D.  1076,  and  of  S.  Salvatore  at  Atrani,  A.  D.  1087.  The  Byzantine 
origin  of  the  doors  of  S.  Paolo  and  S.  Angelo  is  certified  by  inscrip- 
tions, and  that  of  the  others  is  rendered  probable  by  the  absolute 
similarity  of  their  style  and  execution.  Furthermore,  it  is  proved 
by  contemporary  evidence  that  the  door  ordered  by  Abbot  Deside- 
rius  for  St.  Martin  in  Monte  Casino  was  executed  in  Constantinople ; 
and  this  may,  with  good  ground,  be  presumed  to  have  been  the  case 
also  with  that  of  the  Cathedral  of  Salerno,  dedicated  by  Robert 
Guiscard.  The  more  recent  of  the  two  doors  of  St.  Mark  in  Venice 
— that  bearing  the  dedicatory  inscription  of  Procurator  Leo  de  Mo- 
lino,  A.  D.  1 1 12 — seems  to  be  a  copy  made  in  the  Occident  from  a 
Byzantine  model.  The  execution  is  the  same  in  all.  The  sheets  of 
metal  which  form  the  revetment  of  the  wooden  doors  are  enclosed 
by  a  projecting  frame-work  of  bronze,  ornamented  in  low-relief.  The 
panels  are  decorated  in  niello :  the  figures  being  drawn  in  incised 
lines,  and  the  surfaces  filled  in  with  sheets  and  threads  of  silver,  or 
with  a  colored  cement  resembling  enamel. 

The  difficulty  and  the  delay  experienced  in  abandoning  the  By- 
zantine traditions  is  evident  in  a  number  of  bronze  doors,  dating  to 
the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century,  which  were,  without  doubt, 
executed  by  Italian  artists  who  had  not  as  yet  been  able  to  free 
themselves  from  a  dependence  upon  imported  models.  Master  Ro- 
gerius  of  Amalfi,  in  the  doors  of  the  Mortuary  Chapel  of  Boemund 
of  Antiochia  in  Canosa,  A.  D.  mi,  endeavored  to  add  some  sculpt- 
ured ornament  to  the  frames,  knockers,  etc. ;  as  did  also  Oderisius 
of  Benevento  in  the  two  doors  of  the  Cathedral  of  Troja,  dating  to 
1119  and  1127.  If  the  imposing  door  of  the  Cathedral  of  Beneven- 
to, with  its  seventy-two  panels  in  relief,  be  not  referable  to  the  early 
part  of  the  twelfth  century,  fifty  years  must  have  passed  before 


ITALY. 


471 


en- 


Lower  Italy  and  Sicily  produced  any  works  of  native  design 
tirely  decorated   in   relief,  such   as  the  doors  of  the   Cathedral  of 
Trani,  of  that  of  Ravello,  and  of  the  northern  portal  of  the  Cathe- 
dral  of    Monreale  — all   of  which  were    executed   by  Barisanus  of 
Trani,  about  1180.     The  dependency  upon  Byzantine  models  is  but 
little  to  be  observed  in  these  works,  which  rather  resemble  certain 
German  doors,  particularly  those  of   the  Cathedral  of  Augsburg, 
though  the  direct  influence  of  Germany  cannot  be  demonstrated' 
An  artistic  impulse  from  Pisa  may  be  assumed  with  greater  proba- 
bility, inasmuch  as  the  bronze 
door  in  relief  in  the  southern 
transept  of  the  cathedral  of 
that   city  (Fig.   289),   which, 
though     exceedingly    primi- 
tive, is  not  without  some  un- 
derstanding of  composition, 
may  be  as  early  as  the  begin- 
ning of  the  twelfth  century. 
Moreover   we    learn    that    a 
Pisan   artist,   one   Bonannus, 
who  had  executed  a  door  of 
the  Cathedral  of  Pisa,  was,  in 
1 1 86,  engaged  upon  the  door 
of  the  western  portal  of  the 
Cathedral  of  Monreale.    The 
employment   of  artists  from 
neighboring  towns  was  nat- 
ural, especially  in  the  frequented  maritime  cities  of  Italy;  still,  it 
is  strange  that  the  brothers  Albertus  (Hubertus)  and  Petrus,  who 
in  the  year  1203  executed  the  bronze  gates  of  the  Chapel  of  St. 
John  in  the  Baptistery  of  the  Lateran,  were  natives  of  Lausanne, 
— not,  as  Rumohr  would  have  us  believe,  of  Piacenza. 

The  imitations  in  wood  of  bronze  doors  in  relief,  dating  to  about 
r 200,  such  as  the  fine  example  of  S.  Sabina  in  Rome,  that  of  Alba 
Fucese,  and  that  of  the  Cathedral  of  Spalatro,  together  with  the  va- 
rious wood  carvings  of  the  Abruzzi,  especially  those  of  Aquila,  need 
not  here  be  described  in  detail.  The  same  is  the  case  with  those 


Fig.  289. — Part  of  a  Bronze  Door  of  the  Cathedral 
of  Pisa. 


472  SCULPTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

ecclesiastical  furnishings  which  are  connected  with  the  so-called 
Cosmatic  decorations,  referred  to  in  the  chapter  upon  Romanic  ar- 
chitecture. The  preference  for  the  system  of  revetment  introduced 
by  Cosmas  in  great  measure  explains  the  neglect  of  work  in  bronze 
and  precious  metals,  Italy  being  decidedly  inferior  to  Germany  in 
these  latter  branches.  In  rare  cases,  where  metal-work  was  required 
for  the  utensils  of  the  altar,  a  rigid  Byzantine  character  is  notice- 
able, like  that  in  the  bronze  doors  of  the  time  of  the  Pantaleoni. 
And  this  was  equally  true,  whether  the  productions  were  of  Byzan- 
tine origin,  like  the  celebrated  superfrontale  of  the  so-called  Pala 
d'Oro,  A.D.  976,  in  the  Church  of  St.  Mark,  Venice,  or  whether  they 
were  imitations  of  models  imported  from  Constantinople,  such  as 
the  antependium  of  beaten  silver,  dating  to  1144,  in  the  Cathedral 
of  Citta  di  Castello.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  Venice,  in  the  elev- 
enth and  twelfth  centuries,  carried  on  a  manufacture  of  considerable 
importance  in  goldsmiths'  work,  especially  in  enamel,  rather  for  ex- 
portation to  Germany  and  France  than  to  supply  any  demand  in 
Italy  itself.  Still,  many  of  its  productions,  particularly  the  magnifi- 
cent bindings,  remained  in  the  wealthy  City  of  the  Lagoons. 

The  preponderance  of  works  of  large  dimensions  in  marble  and 
bronze  shows  that,  in  general,  the  activity  of  Italy  was  directed 
towards  the  grand  and  monumental,  in  characteristic  contrast  to 
that  of  Germany,  where,  during  the  Romanic  epoch,  sculpture  was 
chiefly  employed  for  the  decoration  of  minor  utensils. 

The  variety  of  style  which  was  so  noticeable  in  the  architecture 
of  the  several  provinces  of  France*  does  not  obtain  in  the  sculpt- 
ure of  that  country.  The  fundamental  basis  of  the  latter  art  in  the 
eleventh  century,  as  well  as  the  novel  tendencies  appearing  in  the 
twelfth,  were  the  same  throughout  the  whole  of  France.  But  the 
degree  of  ability,  the  relations  of  native  artistic  traditions  to  exter- 
nal influences,  the  time  spent  in  development,  the  opportunities  for 
practice,  and,  consequently,  the  results  obtained,  are  very  diverse. 
Furthermore,  in  sculpture,  as  in  architecture,  we  find  no  place 


*  M.  Viollet-le-Duc.      Dictionnaire  raisonne  de  1' Architecture  Frar^aise  du  XI8  au 
XVI"  Siecle.     Sculpture.    Vol.  VIII.     1866. 


FRANCE.  473 

which  can  be  regarded  as  the  central  point  of  development,  for  the 
school  of  Cluny  only  became  of  importance  towards  the  close  of  the 
period  in  question,  which  was  here  of  comparatively  short  duration. 

During  the  eleventh  century  France  had  no  sculpture  worthy  of 
remark.  The  few  works  produced,  when  not  absolutely  barbarous, 
seem  to  hesitate  between  a  helpless  adherence  to  the  expiring  tra- 
ditions of  ancient  Rome  and  an  imitation  of  imported  Byzantine 
models.  A  rude  manner  of  workmanship,  entirely  without  train- 
ing, is  chiefly  found  in  the  North ;  Roman  influences  prevail  in  the 
countries  of  the  Rhone ;  and  the  Byzantine  element  is  most  promi- 
nent in  and  about  Toulouse. 

It  is  only  at  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century  that  a  greater 
number  of  schools  are  to  be  distinguished,  and  that  a  more  vigorous 
activity  makes  itself  manifest,  this  being,  however,  almost  entirely 
limited  to  the  stone  sculptures  required  for  the  decoration  of  archi- 
tectural constructions.  The  Provence  had  the  important  advantage 
of  possessing,  in  its  numerous  Roman  remains,  an  abundance  of 
models,  not  only  architectural  but  sculptural.  The  fagades  and  por- 
tals of  the  Church  of  Saint-Gilles  (Gard),  begun  in  1116,  and  of  the 
Church  of  St.  Trophime  in  Aries  (Fig.  204),  dating  to  the  middle  of 
the  twelfth  century,  are  remarkable  productions,  of  a  classic  charac- 
ter unparalleled  at  that  time  in  Italy.  But,  notwithstanding  the 
harmonious  relations  of  the  architecture  and  sculpture,  the  admira- 
ble composition  and  excellent  execution  of  both,  a  closer  observation 
of  the  details  shows  that  the  Provence  did  not  go  beyond  a  mechani- 
cal imitation  of  older  works, — was,  indeed,  less  independent  than  cer- 
tain of  the  other  provinces.  When  no  help  was  to  be  derived  from 
tradition,  the  Provencal  productions  were  vapid  and  often  coarse. 
The  lack  of  all  national  independence  and  artistic  individuality  is 
particularly  to  be  observed  in  the  heads,  which  are  even  more  desti- 
tute of  character  and  expression  than  are  those  of  the  contemporary 
works  of  Northern  France. 

The  school  of  Toulouse,  despite  its  inferior  basis,  had  higher 
aims.  Of  its  original  Byzantine  characteristics  it  retained  only  the 
technical  training  and  manner  of  expression,  combining  with  these 
a  great  delicacy  of  execution,  careful  study  of  dramatic  action,  and 
an  effective  rendering  of  gesture  and  drapery,  to  which  the  stiff 


474 


SCULPTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


Byzantine  art  did  not  even  aspire.  This  is  evident  in  the  histori- 
cal representations  upon  the  capitals  of  the  cloister  at  Moissac,  built 
about  1 100,  and  those  of  the  cloister  of  St.  Sernin  at  Toulouse, 
dating  to  1 1 50  (Fig-  290).  To  these  may  be  added  the  sculptures 
of  the  portal  of  the  Convent  Church  at  Souillac,  and  of  that  of  the 
Abbey  Church  at  Conques,  as  well  as  those  of  the  Town  Hall  at 
Saint-Antonin,  and  of  the  cloister  of  St.  Bertrand  at  Comminge. 

In  the  group  of  cities 
north  of  Toulouse,  from  Ca- 
hors  to  Limoges,  sculpture 
was  founded  upon  the  same 
Byzantine  basis,  —  fostered 
by  the  commercial  relations 
with  Venice,  which  in  no 
other  part  of  France  were 
more  active  than  in  the  dis- 
trict of  Limoges.  An  at- 
tempt was  here  made  to  im- 
prove the  Byzantine  style, 
but  without  the  carefulness 
in  detail  and  the  dramatic 
tendency  of  the  school  of 
Toulouse.  A  higher  stand- 
ard of  beauty  was  thus  at- 
tained, as,  for  example,  in 
the  tympanon  of  the  Cath- 

Fig.  290. — The  Daughter  of  Herodias  demands  the 

Head  of  John  the  Baptist.    Relief  upon  a  Capital    edral    of    Cahors,    dating    to 
of  St.  Sernin,  now  in  the  Museum  of  Toulouse,     the  beginning  of  the  twelfth 

century,    though    with    less 
success  in  the  natural  vivacity  of  the  action. 

The  substantial  character  of  the  work  in  the  country  of  the  Ga- 
ronne was  not  equalled  in  the  neighboring  provinces  of  Angoumois 
and  Poitou.  On  the  other  hand,  the  sculptured  decorations  were 
greatly  increased  in  extent.  In  the  Cathedral  of  Angouleme  (Fig. 
2 1 6),  and  in  Notre-Dame-la-Grande  of  Poitiers,  the  overloaded  com- 
position of  Byzantine  missal -covers  was  transferred  to  the  entire 
front  of  the  building, — breaking  altogether  loose  from  the  classic 


FRANCE.  475 

limitations  observed  in  the  sculptured  facades  of  the  Provence.  The 
advantages  assured  by  the  antique  principles  of  design  were  thus  al- 
most entirely  lost.  The  architectural  framework  was  overgrown  by  a 
luxuriant  ornamentation,  determined  by  a  capricious  fancy  which  en- 
deavored to  attain  a  general  richness  of  effect  rather  than  any  higher 
artistic  qualities.  The  same  decorative  character,  regardless  of  mi- 
nor features,  is  noticeable  in  the  churches  of  Ruffec  and  Civray. 

North  of  the  Loire  the  antique  influence  was  no  longer  felt.  In 
the  Celtic  provinces  of  Brittany  the  few  examples  preserved  from 
this  period  exhibit  an  unrestrained  caprice,  in  which  may  be  traced 
reminiscences  of  the  relationship  to  the  Irish  race.  In  view  of  the 
great  political  and  architectural  activity  which  had  been  devel- 
oped in  Normandy  during  the  latter  half  of  the  eleventh  century, 
it  is  surprising  that  so  little  original  work  of  importance  was  here 
produced.  For,  apart  from  certain  insignificant  sculptures  which  may 
have  strayed  into  this  country  from  the  Netherlands,  only  isolated 
examples  of  the  greatest  rudeness  are  met  with,  such  as  the  relief 
of  David  upon  the  Church  of  St.  Georges  at  Boscherville,  which  is 
of  comparatively  late  date.  The  He  de  France,  which,  in  the  Gothic 
epoch,  became  the  centre  of  development,  was  as  unproductive  as 
the  provinces  Orleanois,  Berry,  and  Bourbonnois.  The  sculptures 
of  the  tympanon  of  the  Porte  Saint-Ursin  at  Bourges,  dating  to  the 
twelfth  century,  and  inscribed  with  the  name  of  the  artist,  Girauldus, 
are  naive  and  unpretentious,  and  are  especially  interesting  on  ac- 
count of  the  secular  subject  represented  (Fig.  291). 

The  best  works  of  sculpture  produced  in  France  during  the 
Romanic  period  are  found  in  the  eastern  provinces,  especially  in 
Burgundy.  The  school  of  Toulouse  had  preserved  somewhat  of 
the  characteristics  of  the  Visigoths.  That  of  Burgundy,  in  like 
manner,  retained  traces  of  the  primitive  national  elements  of  this 
country.  From  the  earliest  ages  the  inhabitants  had  been  cele- 
brated for  their  carvings  in  wood,  much  as  the  Comacini  had  been 
for  their  stone-cutting ;  it  was  therefore  natural  that  the  Burgundian 
characteristics  should  manifest  themselves  chiefly  in  wood  carving, 
in  striking  contrast  to  the  stone  sculpture  of  the  South.  But  this 
was  not  the  only,  or  even  the  principal,  cause  of  the  superior  devel- 
opment of  sculpture  in  this  province.  For  Cluny,  which,  towards  the 


476  SCULPTURE   OF   THE   ROMANIC   EPOCH. 

close  of  the  eleventh  century,  began  to  exercise  considerable  influ- 
ence in  this  branch, — to  the  vexation  of  that  ascetic  zealot,  Bernhard 
of  Clairvaux, — employed  also  other  artists  than  those  of  Burgundy. 
Moreover,  the  models  were  sought  not  so  much  in  the  old  wood 
carvings,  or  in  the  classic  remains  preserved  in  Burgundy,  as  in  the 
small  Byzantine  works  in  miniature,  enamel,  and  ivory  sculpture. 
The  application  of  the  technical  training  thus  gained  to  sculpture  in 
stone  was  effected  in  a  manner  more  independent,  and  upon  a  bet- 
ter principle,  than  it  had  been  in  Western  France.  The  Byzantine 
style,  which,  as  it  were,  formed  the  elementary  basis  of  the  art  of 


Fig.  291. — Tympanon  of  the  Porte  Saint-Ursin  at  Bourges. 

Cluny,  did  not  preclude  a  close  observation  of  nature;  but  this  was 
directed  less  towards  the  rendering  of  feeling  and  expression,  as  in 
the  school  of  Toulouse,  than  to  the  individual  representation  of 
heads,  hands,  and  feet,  the  draperies  remaining  Byzantine. 

In  the  sculptures  of  the  portal  of  Vezelay  near  Avallon  (Fig.  269), 
completed  soon  after  1120,  and  in  the  relief  of  the  tympanon  of  the 
portal  of  the  Cathedral  at  Autun,  executed  by  Master  Gislebertus 
after  1150,  it  cannot  but  be  remarked  that  the  heads  have  lost  the 
hieratic  conventionalism  which  had  characterized  them  in  the  de- 
based classic  not  less  than  in  the  Byzantine  style.  The  mechanical 
uniformity  is  superseded  by  the  greatest  diversity,  this  appearing 


FRANCE.  477 

not  only  in  the  determination  of  the  types  but  even  in  a  portrait- 
like  individuality.  At  the  present  day,  among  the  peasants  of 
Morvan,  heads  are  met  with  similar  to  those  represented  in  these 
sculptures,  and  it  cannot,  therefore,  be  doubted  that  the  assiduous 
artists  of  Cluny  took  their  models  from  their  immediate  surround- 
ings. This  deliberate  return  to  nature  resulted  in  the  emancipation 
of  art  from  the  trammels  of  a  thousand  years,  and  the  talent  and 
success  of  the  Burgundians  in  elevating  themselves  above  the  bar- 
barism of  the  neighboring  provinces  was  of  the  greatest  promise  for 
the  future.  It  is  true,  nature  was  still  imitated  with  a  certain  one- 
sidedness  and  limitation,  the  draperies  especially  retaining  their  tra- 
ditional forms,  but  this  does  not  detract  from  the  significance  of  the 
advance.  The  way  was  hereby  opened  for  the  marvellous  develop- 
ment which  sculpture  was  to  attain  in  the  Gothic  epoch  after  the 
close  of  the  twelfth  century, — not  only  in  France  but  in  all  the 
countries  of  the  North. 

The  extension  of  the  monastic  order  of  Cluny  led  to  the  exten- 
sion of  this  truly  national  art  over  a  great  part  of  France.  Before 
the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century  similar  types  of  heads  are  met 
with,  not  only  in  the  western  portal  of  the  Cathedral  of  Chartres, — 
in  which  the  life  and  naturalness  of  the  faces  contrast  strongly  with 
the  mummy-like  Byzantine  bodies  and  draperies, — but  also  in  Poitou 
and  in  some  works  of  the  district  of  Toulouse.  How  typical  these 
are  of  race  and  lineage,  in  comparison  with  the  Byzantine  and  later 
classic  heads,  is  shown  by  the  portraits  of  the  French  king  and 
queen  from  Notre -Dame  in  Corbeil,  now  preserved  in  St.  Denis 
(Figs.  292  and  293). 

The  chief  field  for  this  new  movement  in  France  was  found  in 
stone  sculpture  in  connection  with  architecture.  Metal -work  was 
but  little  in  demand,  and  the  same  was  the  case  with  wood  carving, 
which,  after  the  twelfth  century,  was  neglected  even  by  the  Burgun- 
dians. It  appears  that  the  few  requirements  in  monumental  bronze 
casting  were  at  first  supplied,  as  in  Italy,  by  importations  from 
Constantinople,  through  the  medium  of  Venice  and  Genoa ;  but  in 
later  times  by  the  productions  of  the  Belgian  school  of  Dinant. 
This  school  is  known  to  us  by  the  beautiful  baptismal  font  in  the 
Church  of  St.  Bartholomew  at  Liege,  which  was  cast  soon  after 


473 


SCULPTURE   OF   THE    ROMANIC   EPOCH. 


ii  12,  by  Lambert  Patras,  of  Dinant,  at  the  order  of  Abbot  Helenius 
of  Orval.  In  thoroughness  of  execution  and  correctness  of  form 
this  surpasses  even  the  works  of  the  foundery  at  Hildesheim.  It  is 
not  surprising  that  such  castings  should  have  been  greatly  admired 
in  Northern  France,  where  little  progress  had  been  made  in  this 
branch.  Members  of  the  guild  were  called  to  France,  and  Dinant 
came  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  high-school  of  bronze  founding.  This 
is  made  evident,  less  by  the  remaining  specimens  of  the  work  in 


Fig.  292. — Head  of  a  King,  said  to 
be  Clovis. 


Fig.  293. — Head  of  a  Queen, 
said  to  be  Clotilde. 


Sculptures  from  the  Portal  of  Notre-Dame  in  Corbeil,  now  in  St.  Denis. 

Northern  France  than  by  the  fact  that  bronze  founders  long  con- 
tinued to  be  known  as  "  Dinandiers." 

The  conditions  of  goldsmiths'  work  were  much  the  same  as 
those  of  bronze  casting,  the  former  branch  being  chiefly  affected  by 
the  influences  of  the  Rhenish  countries  and  by  those  introduced 
through  Aquitania.  It  is  difficult  to  determine  whether  the  tradi- 
tions of  work  in  the  precious  metals,  which  prevailed  during  the 
Carolingian  period,  still  continued  in  force,  or  whether  an  entirely 
new  impulse  made  itself  felt  at  the  time  of  the  Crusades ;  but  this 


FRANCE.  479 

is  of  little  moment  in  historical  respects,  inasmuch  as  this  branch  of 
art  did  not  attain  to  the  same  importance  in  France  and  Italy  as  in 
Germany.  An  exception  may  be  made  in  favor  of  Limoges,  where 
much  enamelled  work  was  produced,  this  industry  being  established 
either  through  a  direct  connection  with  Venice,  or  through  an  imi- 
tation of  the  methods  of  Lorraine,  which  latter  province,  like  the 
Rhenish  countries,  early  cultivated  the  email  champleve. 

Of  the  other  countries  of  Europe  little  is  to  be  said  in  regard  to 
this  branch  of  art  during  the  Romanic  epoch.  Christian  Spain  was 
even  more  dependent  upon  France  in  its  sculpture  than  in  its  archi- 
tecture, and  exhibited  none  of  those  realistic  tendencies  which  char- 
acterized it  during  the  subsequent  period.  England,  in  sculpture, 
could  learn  nothing  from  its  Norman  missionaries,  and  its  produc- 
tions were  limited  to  barbaric  wood  carvings,  such  as  chests,  chess- 
figures,  etc.  In  the  rare  cases  where  monumental  sculptures  were 
attempted,  as  in  capitals  and  cornices,  rude  forms  of  masks  and 
monsters  appear  side  by  side  with  primitive  symbols.  The  works 
of  this  class  are  either  of  the  most  rigid  and  lifeless  Byzantinism,  as, 
for  instance,  the  sculptures  of  the  west  portal  of  the  Cathedral  of 
Rochester,  or  of  incompetent  dilettanteism,  as  the  statue  of  Bishop 
Herbert  in  the  portal  of  the  northern  transept  of  the  Cathedral  of 
Norwich,  the  sculptured  decoration  of  the  south  portal  of  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Ely,  and  the  crucifix  of  Romsey.  The  same  may  be  said  of 
Scotland  and  Ireland,  where  wood  carving  had  early  been  practised  ; 
and  more  especially  also  of  Scandinavia.  The  monstrous  carved  orna- 
ments of  intertwined  patterns,  peculiar  to  Northern  art,  have  already 
been  referred  to.  The  few  productions  worthy  of  remark,  and  ref- 
erable to  this  period,  which  are  to  be  met  with  in  Denmark,  Nor- 
way, and  Sweden, — such  as  the  altar-piece  with  an  antependium  and 
superfrontale  in  relief,  from  Lisbjerg  in  Jutland,  now  in  the  South 
Kensington  Museum  of  London, — must  be  assumed  to  have  been 
imported  from  the  southern  coast  of  the  Baltic,  or  from  some  other 
country  visited  by  the  ships  of  the  seafaring  inhabitants.  Higher 
culture  had  but  reached  its  first  stages  in  these  northern  lands,  and 
no  important  monumental  sculpture  was  possible  until  architecture 
had  attained  a  higher  development. 


Fig.  294. — View  of  the  Cathedral  of  Bourges. 


GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE    IN    FRANCE. 

IT  has  been  frequently  observed  that  no  definite  line  of  demarca- 
tion can  be  drawn  between  the  Romanic  and  Gothic  styles.  It  is 
true  the  development  of  the  various  artistic  features  did  not  advance 
with  perfect  regularity.  Forms  justly  regarded  as  characteristic  of 
the  Gothic  style  are  recognizable  in  the  painting  and  sculpture  of  the 
Romanic  period ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  certain  primitive  traits 
were  retained,  with  but  unimportant  alterations,  until  the  close  of 
the  Middle  Ages.  The  same  is  the  case,  at  least  in  some  districts 
of  France,  with  the  plan  and  construction  of  architectural  monu- 
ments. A  historical  continuity  is  thus  undeniable. 

But  this  might  be  said  with  quite  as  much  truth  of  the  changes 
which  led  from  the  style  of  the  Carolingian  to  that  of  the  Romanic 
epoch.  The  Gothic  modes  of  construction  were  based  upon  the 
Romanic,  in  the  same  way  as  these  latter  had  been  developed  from 
the  Carolingian  alterations  of  the  classic  basilical  plan.  In  both 
cases  a  consequential  development  affected  previously  existing  meth- 
ods of  artistic  expression.  But  with  the  Gothic  this  growth  was 
something  more  than  a  new  branch  of  the  old  tree.  Even  in  the 


FRANCE.  481 

age  of  the  Ottos  the  conceptions  formerly  prevalent  had  undergone 
a  great  change,  and  in  the  succeeding  period  they  were  entirely  revo- 
lutionized. New  political  and  social  relations  so  entirely  altered  the 
character  of  Occidental  civilization  that  its  products  were  essentially 
different.  The  results  of  the  Crusades  certainly  did  not  correspond 
to  the  sacrifices  which  they  had  required,  but  they,  nevertheless, 
like  a  thunder-storm,  cleared  the  heavy  and  sultry  air  which  had 
hung  over  Europe  during  the  later  Romanic  period.  Art  was  taken 
by  the  laity  from  the  hands  of  the  clergy  and  the  monkish  commu- 
nities, and  was  freed  from  dogmatic  traditions.  In  poetry,  sculpture, 
and  painting,  the  study  of  nature  was  cultivated,  and  in  architecture 
a  greater  independence  and  individuality  soon  made  itself  felt. 

Moreover,  the  chief  seat  of  artistic  activity  was  removed  from 
Germany.  The  Romanic  architecture  of  the  Rhenish  countries  had 
been  too  elaborately  and  successfully  developed,  and  was  too  inde- 
pendent of  foreign  influences  to  be  easily  supplanted  by  another 
style.  Its  buildings  had  attained  a  systematic  and  organic  perfec- 
tion, which  answered  the  requirements  of  the  country  long  after  the 
period  in  which  the  style  had  been  determined,  and  was  but  little 
affected  by  the  artistic  innovations  of  neighboring  countries.  Cir- 
cumstances were  more  favorable  for  the  new  forms  in  those  regions 
where  but  few  of  the  branches  of  construction  and  of  decoration 
had  been  carried  beyond  the  experimental  stage, — where,  indeed, 
many  successful  and  important  advances  had  been  made,  but  with- 
out the  development  of  a  complete  and  widely  adopted  architectural 
system.  Great  changes  were,  however,  not  possible  until  the  va- 
rious races  had  attained  to  a  political  unity,  and  through  this  to 
more  intimate  relations  in  respect  to  artistic  culture.  The  new 
style  could  not  be  perfected  until  the  advances  of  the  different  na- 
tions had  been  combined.  This  could  best  be  achieved  in  a  tract  but 
little  influenced  by  maritime  commerce,  without  earlier  traditions  so 
strong  as  to  have  become  prejudices,  yet  with  a  fresh  and  receptive 
artistic  activity,  supported  by  an  increasing  political  power. 

These  conditions  were  possessed  by  France.*     Each  province  of 

*  M.  Viollet-le-Duc,  Dictionnaire  raisonne  de  1' Architecture  Frar^aise  du  XI"  au  XVI" 
siecle.  Paris,  1858-1868.  —  C.  Schnaase,  Geschichte  der  bildenden  Ktinste  im  Mittelalter. 
Vols.  III.  and  IV.,  2d  Edition.  Dusseldorf,  1872. 

31 


482  GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

this  country  had  attained  to  a  peculiar  but  not  entirely  satisfactory 
development  during  the  Romanic  epoch,  and  each  had  a  certain 
share  in  the  formation  of  the  Gothic  style.  Even  in  the  eleventh 
century  pointed  arches  and  pointed  barrel-vaults  had  been  common 
in  Southern  France,  while  the  employment  of  bisected  vaults  had 
familiarized  the  builders  with  the  principle  of  the  flying  buttress. 
In  Burgundy  and  Auvergne  a  higher  development  of  the  transept 
had  long  been  in  process,  and  the  splendid  arrangement  of  the  choir 
with  the  surrounding  passage  and  radial  chapels  had  been  introduced 
in  Romanic  buildings.  In  Burgundy  the  barrel-vaults  of  Southern 
France  were  employed  side  by  side  with  cross-vaults,  the  latter  con- 
structive form  attaining  a  new  importance  by  the  exchange  of  the 
Roman  method  of  two  intersecting  barrel-vaults  in  favor  of  the  exe- 
cution of  the  ceiling  as  panels  between  a  complex  of  ribs,  which 
expedient  rendered  an  equal  span  between  the  supports  and  an 
equal  height  of  the  transverse  arches  no  longer  necessary.  In  Nor- 
mandy the  sixfold  vault  was  evolved  from  the  cross-vault.  The 
forms  of  the  details,  also,  had,  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  as- 
sumed a  character  which  was  as  different  from  that  of  the  Romanic 
style  as  from  the  antique  reminiscences.  All  these  innovations, 
however,  were  isolated, — like  local  idioms,  from  no  one  of  which 
alone  could  a  new  language  be  formed.  These  modest  alterations 
or  makeshifts  did  not,  in  themselves,  amount  to  a  new  style.  In- 
decision, a  clumsy  helplessness,  a  fortuitous  arrangement,  and  even 
whimsical  and  arbitrary  freaks  of  design,  were  the  characteristics  of 
the  imperfectly  organized  Romanic  style  of  France  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  twelfth  century, — a  period  of  so  perfect  an  architectural 
.  development  in  Germany.  But  all  these  traits  may,  in  greater  or 
less  degree,  be  considered  as  attempts  to  determine  an  entirely  new 
system,  superior  to  that  hitherto  in  universal  employment, — to  per- 
fect which,  however,  it  was  necessary  to  unite  all  forces  in  the  great- 
est possible  exertion. 

The  closest  approach  to  this  end  was  made  in  those  provinces 
where  an  extended  architectural  activity  had  been  combined  with 
the  favorable  union  of  different  artistic  traditions,  namely,  in  Bur- 
gundy and  Normandy.  In  the  former  the  success  is  mainly  to  be 
ascribed  to  the  well-regulated  and  aspiring  zeal  of  the  monks  of 


FRANCE.  483 

Cluny,  the  extension  of  which  order  was  accompanied  by  a  note- 
worthy series  of  buildings.  In  the  latter  there  ruled  a  young  and 
powerful  dynasty,  the  adventurous  energy  of  which  would  unques- 
tionably have  enabled  this  race  to  surpass  their  neighbors  upon  the 
south  in  monumental  as  well  as  in  political  competition,  had  not 
their  hereditary  Norse  love  of  the  sea  led  them  as  conquerors  in 
other  directions.  The  inhabitants  of  both  countries  combined,  as  we 
have  seen,  the  artistic  elements  of  the  neighboring  French  provinces 
with  Rhenish  and  also  with  Lombardic  tendencies.  The  unsettled 
style  which  thus  resulted  would  not  have  been  important  but  for 
peculiar  innovations  which  give  to  the  later  works  a  transitional 
character.  The  ultimate  and  consequential  development  of  these 
advances  could  not,  however,  be  made  either  by  the  Normans  or  by 
the  Burgundians.  The  former,  notwithstanding  their  admirable 
treatment  of  the  wall-surfaces  and  vaults,  still  retained  the  round 
arch.  The  latter,  though  adopting  pointed  forms  not  only  in  the 
vaults,  but,  as  at  Autun  (Fig.  295),  in  the  arcades,  still  did  not  free 
themselves  entirely  from  the  restrictions  of  the  barrel-vault.  In  the 
Abbey  Church  of  Vezelay,  where  the  introduction  of  cross-vaults 
had  been  attempted,  the  pointed  arch  was  combined  with  this 
method  of  vaulting  (Fig.  296)  some  years  before  the  important  inno- 
vations made  by  Abbot  Suger.  But  before  the  systems  of  Autun 
and  Vezelay  had  reached  the  perfection  observable  in  the  Cathedral 
of  Langres,  Burgundy  was  surpassed  in  architectural  respects  by 
other  districts. 

In  the  first  decades  of  the  twelfth  century  a  greater  architectural 
activity  began  in  the  northern  provinces  of  the  interior  of  France, 
which  had  taken  so  little  part  in  the  artistic  development  after  the 
Merovingian  period.  The  different  races  of  the  South  and  North 
had  here  been  so  intermixed  that  the  inhabitants  of  this  region 
were  the  first  to  present  the  characteristic  type  of  the  French  na- 
tionality. The  dukes  who  had  here  first  assumed  the  royal  title 
extended  their  sway  throughout  the  entire  country.  The  chivalry 
of  this  part  of  France  had  won  high  renown  during  the  Crusades. 
Science  and  literature  were  nowhere  more  actively  cultivated.  More- 
over, the  deficiency  of  architectural  monuments  during  earlier  ages 
rendered  circumstances  particularly  favorable  for  the  erection  of  a 


484  GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

great  number  of  buildings  and  the  introduction  of  new  forms.  Thus 
the  city  of  Paris  rapidly  became  the  centre  of  Occidental  civiliza- 
tion, and,  although  then  far  from  having  the  population  of  two  hun- 
dred thousand  souls,  which  it  possessed  at  the  end  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  it  was  even  in  this  age  one  of  the  largest  cities  of  Europe. 
At  the  time  when  Suger  became  abbot  of  St.  Denis,  near  Paris, 
in  the  year  1121,  the  He  de  France  was  influenced  in  artistic  re- 


Fig.  295. — 'System  of  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Autun. 


Fig.  296. — System  of  the  Portico  of  the 
Abbey  Church  of  Vezelay. 


spects  equally  by  Burgundy  and  Normandy.  The  south  of  the 
province  was  naturally  more  inclined  to  follow  the  artistic  methods 
of  Burgundy,  as  in  the  Convent  Church  of  Preuilly,  while,  in  the 
north,  Norman  models  were  imitated,  as  is  evident  in  St.  Pere 
at  Chartres.  Paris  itself  took  a  middle  course,  exemplified  in 
St.  Martin-des-Champs,  and  evidently  endeavored  to  profit  by  all 
the  traditions  within  the  reach  of  the  advancing  capital.  Like 
Charlemagne,  the  abbot  Suger  adopted  methods  of  construction 


FRANCE.  485 

from  all  those  countries  with  which  he  entertained  relations,  even 
employing  ancient  Roman  materials.  He  continued  the  building 
of  the  old  Abbey  Church  of  St.  Denis,  completing  its  fagade  in  1140. 
This  structure  had  been  designed  under  the  influence  of  St.  Etienne 
at  Caen,  and  was  of  the  transitional  style,  the  form  of  the  pointed 
arches  of  the  lateral  portals  next  to  the  round-arched  main  entrance 
having  been  determined  by  the  limited  space,  while  the  pointed 
windows  above  were  adopted  from  a  preference  for  this  shape. 
The  crypt  beneath  this  church,  built  in  1140  and  1141,  is  still  en- 
tirely Romanic.  The  construction  of  the  choir  followed  without  a 
suspension  of  the  work,  between  1 141  and  1 144,  and  displays  a  sys- 
tematic introduction  of  the  pointed  arch  for  arcades,  windows,  and 
vaults.  Thus  a  development  was  here  made  in  but  little  more  than 
a  decade,  for  which  elsewhere  an  entire  century  was  requisite. 

This  advance  did  not  long  remain  an  isolated  instance.  A  great 
number  of  episcopal  cities,  from  Chartres  to  the  provinces  of  Cham- 
pagne and  Picardy,  rivalled  the  capital  in  bold  and  magnificent  con- 
structions. At  about  the  same  time  with  the  Abbey  Church  of  St. 
Denis  there  arose  the  enormous  churches  of  Noyon,  St.  Germer, 
Rheims,  and  Chalons-sur-Marne,  while  the  cathedrals  of  Laon,  Sens, 
and  Senlis  were  contemporaneous  with  the  Cathedral  of  Paris,  be- 
gun twenty  years  after  St.  Denis. 

The  Cathedral  of  Chartres,  begun  in  1145,  shows  in  the  fagade, — 
the  only  portion  dating  to  the  original  construction, — a  systematic 
employment  of  the  pointed  arch,  and  a  decided  advance  beyond  the 
facade  of  St.  Denis,  which  had  been  completed  five  years  previously. 
Important  innovations  are  also  noticeable  in  the  Cathedral  of  Noyon 
(Picardy),  rebuilt  after  the  fire  of  1131.  Notwithstanding  its  Ro- 
manic reminiscences  it  does  not  seem  to  have  been  begun  before 
St.  Denis,  for  the  abbot  Suger's  detailed  account  of  his  work  makes 
no  mention  of  Noyon,  and  the  relations  of  the  bishop  Balduin  of 
Noyon  to  Suger,  as  well  as  various  peculiarities  of  the  building  it- 
self, favor  the  assumption  that  some  of  the  designers  employed  by 
Balduin  had  previously  been  engaged  upon  St.  Denis.  Moreover, 
the  transepts  of  Noyon  show  a  decided  improvement  upon  those  of 
the  Cathedral  of  Tournay  from  which  they  were  imitated,  and  the 
latter  structure  cannot  have  been  erected  before  1145,  as  the  chap- 


486  GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

ter  of  this  cathedral,  which  had  been  connected  with  that  of  Noyon 
after  the  destruction  of  Tournay,  was  not  re-established  in  its  former 
seat  until  the  before-mentioned  year.  On  the  other  hand,  some  al- 
tars in  the  Cathedral  of  Noyon  were  consecrated  as  early  as  1153. 
Contemporaneous  with  this  building  was  the  reconstruction  of  the 
Abbey  Church  of  St.  Germer,  on  the  borders  of  Normandy,  which 
was  slowly  carried  on  after  1136,  and  exhibits  a  combination  of 
pointed  forms  with  Romanic  elements.  The  direct  influence  of  St. 
Denis  is  evident  in  the  pointed  arched  choir  of  St.  Germain-des-Pr£s 
at  Paris,  built  after  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century  and  conse- 
crated about  1 163. 

A  further  advance  is  perceptible  in  the  constructions  of  Cham- 
pagne, perhaps  referable  to  the  same  architect,  namely,  the  rebuild- 
ing of  St.  Remy  in  Rheims,  and  the  new  Church  of  Notre-Dame  in 
Chalons-sur-Marne, — the  former  begun  in  1164  and  completed  in 
1181,  the  latter  commenced  soon  after  the  fall  of  the  original  struct- 
ure in  1157  and  consecrated  in  1183.  To  these  may  be  added  the 
Cathedral  of  Sens,  rebuilt  after  the  fire  of  1152,  in  which  edifice  an 
altar  was  consecrated  as  early  as  1164,  while  the  architect  is  known 
to  have  left  the  site  eleven  years  later:  also  the  Cathedral  of  Senlis, 
begun  at  about  the  same  time  but  not  consecrated  until  1191.  To 
this  brilliant  group  of  early  Gothic  churches  belong,  finally,  the  two 
most  magnificent  edifices  of  the  twelfth  century,'  the  Cathedrals  of 
Laon  and  Paris, — the  one  begun  in  1160,  and,  at  least  in  part,  em- 
ployed for  divine  service  in  1173,  the  other  built  after  1163,  its 
choir  consecrated  in  1182.  The  resemblance  of  these  two  last-named 
buildings  is  very  striking,  notwithstanding  the  rectilinear  termina- 
tion of  the  plan,  and  the  occasional  introduction  of  round  arches  in 
Laon. 

In  all  these  churches,  begun  within  the  short  space  of  thirty 
years,  the  characteristics  of  the  early  Gothic  are  distinctly  evident. 
The  most  noticeable  change  is  the  great  increase  of  dimensions, 
which  had  kept  pace  with  the  increase  of  means  and  ability.  The 
Crusades  had  made  sacrifices  to  the  Church  more  general  and  more 
important.  He  who  could  not  take  the  cross  himself  felt  called 
upon  to  make  compensation  either  by  money  offerings  or  by  gratu- 
itous services.  Nobles  and  peasants  joined  together  to  drag  from 


FRANCE.  487 

the  quarries  the  blocks  which  Were  to  serve  for  the  building  of  St. 
Denis,  and  during  the  construction  of  the  fa9ade  of  Chartres  the 
work  was  regarded  as  a  direct  act  of  devotion.  When  the  funds 
provided  by  the  founders  and  the  communities  were  not  sufficient, 
all  classes  made  contributions,  and,  as  had  been  the  case  at  a  for- 
mer period  with  the  convents,  the  dioceses  and  towns  made  the 
building  of  churches  a  matter  of  religious  zeal  as  well  as  of  proud 
rivalry. 

The  Gothic  arrangement  of  plan  was  determined  with  main  ref- 
erence to  the  interior,  not  only  as  in  all  Christian  churches,  but  was 
even  more  regardless  of  the  outer  appearance  than  was  the  case  in 
the  best  Romanic  creations.  Three  characteristics  are  noticeable 
from  the  first :  the  cruciform  plan,  the  organic  connection  of  the 
choir  with  the  body  of  the  church,  and  the  two  towers  of  the  facade. 

The  chief  attention  was  naturally  devoted  to  the  development 
of  the  choir.  This  was  brought  into  more  intimate  connection  with 
the  nave  and  aisles  by  the  reduction  or  entire  omission  of  the  eleva- 
tion of  the  crypt,  and  by  the  adoption  of  the  same  dimensions  of 
width  and  height  as  those  decided  upon  for  the  body  of  the  church. 
With  the  exception  of  the  straight-lined  termination  of  the  choir  in 
the  Cathedral  of  Laon,  the  apsidal  system  of  Burgundy  and  Au- 
vergne  was  universally  adopted  for  the  surrounding  passage  and  ra- 
dial chapels.  The  semicircle  of  columns  remained  towards  the  high 
altar,  excepting  in  the  Cathedral  of  Sens  (Fig.  299),  where  the  alter- 
nation of  columns  and  piers  was  continued  around  the  choir.  In 
the  Church  of  Notre-Dame  in  Paris  (Fig.  298)  the  surrounding  pas- 
sage was  doubled,  in  accordance  with  the  five-aisled  plan.  The  ra- 
dial chapels  were  brought  into  more  organic  connection  than  had 
been  the  case  in  the  churches  of  Burgundy  and  Auvergne,  through 
the  division  of  the  separate  spaces  by  piers  alone,  as,  for  instance,  in 
St.  Denis,  Noyon,  Chalons-sur-Marne,  Rheims,  and  Senlis.  In  the 
Cathedral  of  Paris  the  chapels  were  originally  separated  on  account 
of  the  double  passage,  as  in  the  Cathedral  of  Bourges,  a  later  im- 
itation, and  occasionally  they  were  omitted,  with  the  exception  of  a 
single  apse  in  the  main  axis,  as  in  Sens  and  Langres. 

The  transept  in  St.  Denis,  Rheims,  and  Noyon  (Fig.  297)  had 
remained  close  to  the  end  of  the  choir,  improving  but  little  upon 


488 


GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 


the  design  of  the  earlier  models.  The  end  walls  were  of  the  most 
various  arrangement,  appearing  as  grand  apses  in  Noyon,  after  the 
manner  of  the  before-mentioned  Cathedral  of  Tournay,  which  had 
been  influenced  by  the  plan  common  in  Cologne.  Subsequently 
the  transept  was  gradually  moved  towards  the  west,  until  it  oc- 
cupied about  the  middle  of  the  building.  It  remained  one-aisled, 
projecting  little  beyond  the  body  of  the  church,  and  consequently 
of  but  slight  importance.  The  Cathedral  of  Laon  is  exceptional  in 
this  respect,  the  transept  not  only  being  of  the  same  plan  as  the 


Fig.  297. — Cathedral  of 
Noyon. 


Fig.  298. — Notre-Dame 
of  Paris. 


Fig.  299. — Cathedral  of 
Sens. 


three-aisled  body  of  the  church,  but  being  provided  with  towers  at 
the  corners  and  projecting  chapels  upon  the  eastern  side.  These 
chapels,  which  had  become  necessary  through  the  omission  of  the 
radial  apses  from  the  end  of  the  church,  appear  elsewhere  only  in 
the  Cathedral  of  Sens,  which  had  originally  but  one  chapel  in  the 
choir,  and  was,  in  the  transept,  of  a  peculiar  formation,  with  an  un- 
symmetrical  side  aisle  upon  the  east. 

In  the  formation  of  the  nave  some  evidences  of  indecision  are 
recognizable  ;  these  are  to  be  ascribed  to  the  tendency  of  the  earlier 


FRANCE.  489 

Gothic  architects  to  employ  columns  in  place  of  the  piers,  which  had 
been  customary  during  the  Romanic  epoch.  When  supports  of 
round  plan  had  been  introduced  into  Romanic  buildings,  they  had 
proved  advantageous  for  the  extension  of  the  space  but  not  for  the 
design  of  the  elevations ;  thus  the  alternations  of  columns  and  piers 
had  been  gradually  relinquished,  even  in  the  sixfold  or  cross-vaulted 
compartments,  where  the  less  important  functions  of  the  interme- 
diate shafts  seemed  to  demand  a  difference  in  the  supports.  The 
Burgundian  disposition  of  the  choir,  with  its  semicircle  of  columns, 
was  of  decided  influence  upon  the  formation  of  the  nave.  As  a  treat- 
ment of  the  choir  uniform  with  that  of  the  nave  was  considered  indis- 
pensable, and  the  curve  around  the  altar  seemed  to  preclude  the  in- 
troduction of  piers,  it  naturally  resulted  that  the  body  of  the  church, 
as  well  as  the  choir,  was  provided  with  columns.  This  may  in  some 
measure  be  considered  as  a  return  to  the  principles  of  the  columned 
basilicas  of  the  Carolingian  and  Romanic  epochs.  Still,  it  cannot  be 
proved  that  this  arrangement  was  generally  adopted  during  the  ear-, 
liest  ages  of  the  Gothic  style.  The  original  plan  of  the  nave  is  no 
longer  evident  in  St.  Denis,  because  of  changes  made  during  later 
reconstructions ;  moreover,  it  may  be  doubted  whether  the  design 
of  this  church  would  be  of  importance  in  this  connection,  as  the 
abbot  Suger  had,  in  this  part  of  the  building,  retained  as  much  of 
the  original  structure  as  possible.  Nor  are  we  better  informed  con- 
cerning the  first  design  of  the  nave  at  Chartres,  only  the  western 
front  of  that  cathedral  being  referable  to  this  period.  In  Noyon 
there  is  an  alternation  of  grouped  piers  and  columns,  and  a  similar 
arrangement  appears  in  Sens,  where  coupled  columns,  equalling  the 
thickness  of  the  wall,  are  placed  between  the  richly  membered  piers. 
The  transformation  of  the  supports  of  St.  Remy  to  clustered  col- 
umns is  to  be  considered  only  as  an  elaborate  variation  of  the  earlier 
pillars,  and  in  Notre-Dame  of  Chalons-sur-Marne  the  angular  piers 
are  strengthened  by  eight  engaged  shafts.  An  exclusive  employ- 
ment of  columns  first  appears  in  the  Cathedral  of  Paris  and  that  of 
Laon.  It  is  not  surprising  that  the  importance  of  these  two  edi- 
fices, and  the  evident  advantages  of  cylindrical  supports  for  the  ex- 
tension of  the  plan,  led  to  the  general  adoption  of  columns,  and 
their  further  memberment  by  boltels :  a  compromise  being  thus 


490  GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE.     . 

effected  between  the  pier  with  engaged  shafts  and  the  clustered 
column. 

A  peculiarity  evident  from  the  first  in  the  Gothic  plan  is  the  ad- 
dition of  two  towers  to  the  western  fa9ade, — an  arrangement  which 
had  appeared  in  certain  cases  in  the  ecclesiastical  buildings  of  the 
Romanic  style,  especially  of  Normandy.  These  towers  formed  an 
imposing  termination  of  the  side  aisles,  flanking  the  portico  before 
the  nave  and  the  organ-loft,  and  rendering  the  western  front  fully 
equal  in  importance  to  the  lavishly  decorated  choir.  The  entrance 
to  the  building  was  thus  emphasized  and  made  more  dignified. 

Features  of  the  interior  common  to  all  the  before -mentioned 
buildings  were  the  attic  base,  with  the  Romanic  corner  leaf,  the 
smooth  and  but  slightly  diminished  shaft,  and  the  capital,  still  imitat- 
ed from  the  Corinthian  forms.  This  last  is  no  longer  carved  with  the 
intertwined  forms  and  figures  peculiar  to  the  fanciful  ornamentations 
of  the  Romanic  style ;  the  foliage  is  treated  in  a  more  realistic  man- 
ner, the  ends  of  the  leaves  beginning  to  be  curled  and  rolled  up. 
The  pillars  are  always  connected  by  pointed  arches,  those  above 
the  narrower  intercolumniations  of  the  choir  being  either  stilted,  as 
in  Burgundy  and  Auvergne,  or  lancet-shaped.  In  general,  the  height 
of  the  arch  is  less  than  its  span.  The  archivolts  of  Noyon  are  of  a 
plain,  rectangular  profile  ;  elsewhere  Romanic  mouldings  were  adopt- 
ed. Upon  the  side  towards  the  aisles,  and  the  passage  around  the 
choir,  the  capitals  serve  as  imposts  for  transverse  arches,  with  circu- 
lar mouldings  and  diagonal  ribs,  the  vaults  being,  with  but  few  ex- 
ceptions, groined  and  panelled.  Towards  the  nave  the  capitals  are 
surmounted  by  engaged  shafts,  commonly  consisting  of  three  boltels, 
which  are  continued  to  the  spring  of  the  main  vault,  dividing  the 
wall  surfaces  of  the  clerestory,  and  supporting  upon  their  small  cap- 
itals the  transverse  arches  and  ribs  of  the  principal  vault.  This  is 
similar  in  treatment  to  the  vaults  of  the  side  aisles.  As,  notwith- 
standing the  example  of  Vezelay,  the  compartments  remained  of  an 
approximately  square  plan,  the  ceiling  of  the  nave  continued  to  be 
based,  according  to  the  Romanic  system,  upon  six  supports,  whether 
these  were  of  an  alternate  arrangement  or  not.  The  sixfold  vault, 
like  that  of  St.  Etienne  at  Caen,  was  universally  adopted,  this  hav- 
ing the  advantages  of  employing  the  intermediate  shafts  as  func- 


FRANCE. 


491 


tional  supports  of  the  vault,  of  reducing  the  extent  and  the  weight 
of  the  vaulting  panels,  of  diminishing  the  thrust,  and,  finally,  of  in- 
creasing the  memberment  of  the  wall  and  vault  surfaces. 

The  Norman  models,  which  had  been  of  decisive  influence  in 
the  development  of  this  system  of  vaulting,  were  also  followed  in 
the  horizontal  division  of  the  walls  (Figs.  300  and  301).  As  in  the 
churches  of  Normandy,  an  upper  story  of  the  side  aisles  was  open 


Fig.  300. — System  of  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Noyon. 


Fig.  301. — System  of  Notre- 
Dame  of  Paris. 


towards  the  nave  as  a  gallery,  two  or  three  small  arches  supported 
upon  columns  and  united  by  one  relieving  arch  appearing  in  each 
compartment.  While  either  a  gallery  or  a  triforium  was  introduced 
into  the  Romanic  structures,  the  early  Gothic  buildings  were  com- 
monly provided  with  both  :  the  triforium  ornamenting  that  part  of 
the  wall  which  corresponded  to  the  lean-to  roof,  and  providing  a 
narrow  passage  in  the  thickness  of  the  wall.  The  wall  arches  were 


492  GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

opened  by  windows  without  mullions ;  these,  like  the  triforiums, 
were  at  first  round -arched,  a  systematic  employment  of  pointed 
forms  appearing  first  in  Notre-Dame  at  Paris.  In  this  cathedral 
round  windows  formerly  took  the  place  of  the  triforium  ;  these  were 
closed  and  masked  in  later  times,  as  the  horizontal  memberment 
was  felt  to  be  too  much  emphasized  and  the  stories  too  crowded. 
For  similar  reasons  the  introduction  of  galleries  became  less  com- 
mon, the  side  aisles  thus  gaining  in  height  and  the  pillars  and  arches 
having  more  space  for  free  development.  This  arrangement,  which 
had  appeared  even  in  the  Norman  style  in  the  Church  of  Boscher- 
ville,  was  first  employed  among  Gothic  buildings  in  the  Cathedral  of 
Sens,  and  did  not  become  universal  until  after  the  erection  of  the 
choir  of  Vezelay. 

Significant  as  were  the  changes  made  in  the  interior  during  the 
early  Gothic  period,  those  of  the  exterior,  although  resulting  direct- 
ly from  the  construction  of  the  enclosing  walls,  were  even  more  im- 
portant. The  masonry  had  so  increased  in  height  and  slenderness, 
and  had  been  so  perforated  by  windows  and  arcades,  that  its  sta- 
bility was  greatly  diminished.  The  slight  reduction  of  the  thrust, 
resulting  from  the  adoption  of  pointed  instead  of  round  forms  in 
the  arches  and  vaults,  was  more  than  equalled  by  the  increase  of 
lateral  pressure  through  the  transformation  of  the  antique  cross- 
vault  into  the  system  of  groins  and  panels :  the  mass  of  the  vault 
being  inclined  like  a  cupola  against  the  walls.  Abutments  were 
provided  at  the  two  ends  of  the  church  by  the  conch  of  the  apse 
on  the  one  hand,  and  by  the  massive  masonry  of  the  towers  on  the 
other.  For  the  support  of  the  sides  of  the  building  there  was,  with 
the  isolated  exception  of  the  rampant  barrel -vaults  of  the  Minster 
of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  but  one  method  worthy  of  imitation,  namely, 
that  cultivated  in  Southern  France,  in  which  the  thrust  of  the  bar- 
rel-vault above  the  nave  was  met  by  the  bisected  barrel-vaults  of 
the  side  aisles. 

From  this  construction  was  derived  the  system  of  flying  but- 
tresses, consequentially  developed  in  the  Gothic  style.  The  bisect- 
ed form  had  provided  the  abutment  for  a  continuous  barrel-vault : 
the  weight  and  thrust,  which  had  been  interrupted  and  concentrated 
upon  certain  points,  was  now  met  by  a  division  of  the  counteracting 


FRANCE.  493 

mass  into  separate  buttresses.  By  this  division  many  of  the  disad- 
vantages of  the  former  system  were  avoided.  It  was  no  longer 
necessary  to  carry  up  the  outer  wall  as  an  abutment  to  the  spring 
of  the  main  vault,  thus  preventing  the  introduction  of  clerestory 
windows,  for  the  flying  buttresses  interfered  but  very  slightly  with 
the  admission  of  light  into  the  nave  through  the  apertures  between 
them.  It  was  possible  to  increase  the  supporting  power  of  the  con- 
struction without  disadvantage  to  the  interior,  which,  in  the  Pro- 
ven9al  system,  had  been  much  disfigured  by  the  disproportionately 
high  barrel-vaulted  side  aisles.  The  flying  buttresses  upon  the  ex- 
terior lent  themselves  more  readily  to  a  decorative  treatment  than 
did  the  bisected  barrel-vaults  in  the  interior,  especially  as  these  sup- 
ports agreed  well  with  the  vertical  tendencies  of  the  entire  design. 
Moreover,  the  extrados  of  the  buttress  arches  served  as  gutters  for 
carrying  off  the  rain  from  the  roof  of  the  nave,  the  fall  of  which 
upon  the  low  lean-to  roofs  of  the  side  aisles  was  felt  to  be  a  disad- 
vantage. By  gargoyles  projecting  from  the  uprights  the  water  was 
thrown  entirely  beyond  the  walls  of  the  building. 

This  system  was  not  only  adopted  for  the  longer  sides,  but  was 
continued  around  the  curve  of  the  choir:  the  unity  of  design  no- 
ticeable within  the  building  thus  being  secured  for  the  exterior. 
(Compare  Fig.  294.)  Upon  the  sides  the  lower  part  of  the  buttresses 
projected  far  beyond  the  outer  walls ;  in  the  choir  they  were  em- 
ployed as  the  divisions  of  the  terminal  chapels,  and  were  not  visible 
from  without.  The  radial  position  of  the  abutments  and  flying  but- 
tresses of  the  piers  was  not  of  so  good  effect,  the  perspective  view 
causing  the  intersecting  lines  to  appear  confused  and  disjointed,  like 
the  irregular  timbers  of  a  staging.  The  semicircular  form  was  at 
first  retained,  not  only  for  the  choir  but  for  the  surrounding  passage 
and  the  radial  chapels,  despite  the  fact  that  the  buttresses  seemed 
to  call  for  the  adoption  of  a  polygonal  plan. 

The  greatest  uncertainty  and  insufficiency  was  exhibited  by  the 
transept.  Although  it  was  evident  that  the  system  of  flying  but- 
tresses adopted  for  the  body  of  the  church  should  be  employed  here 
also,  especially  in  the  case  of  transepts  of  more  than  one  aisle,  it 
was  not  at  first  considered  possible  to  overcome  the  difficulties  pre- 
sented by  the  intersection  of  transept  and  nave.  In  some  instances 


494  GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

the  main  piers  of  the  intersection  were  increased  in  thickness,  in 
others  heavy  abutments  were  placed  at  the  corners  of  the  end  wall ; 
occasionally,  as  at  Noyon,  an  apsidal  projection  was  adopted  for  the 
termination.  The  organic  solution  of  the  problem,  the  application 
of  abutments  of  cruciform  plan,  was  not  found  until  a  later  period. 

The  two  towers  of  the  main  fagade,  derived  from  the  Norman 
edifices  as  before  described,  were  almost  invariably  adopted,  the 
nave  being  continued  to  the  front  wall  of  these  structures.  A  sys- 
tem of  piers  was  introduced  in  place  of  the  heavy  walls  of  the 
Romanic  style.  The  Romanic  pilaster  strips  of  the  corners  were 
exchanged  for  projecting  buttresses,  although  no  windows  or  other 
openings  through  the  walls  had  seemed  to  render  this  innovation 
necessary;  this  was  the  case  even  in  the  earliest  period,  when  the 
windows  were  still  of  round  form,  as  in  the  older  tower  of  the  Abbey 
Church  of  St.  Germain  at  Auxerre  (Fig.  302),  dating  to  the  first  half 
of  the  twelfth  century.  The  oldest  towers  built  entirely  in  the 
Gothic  style,  such  as  that  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity  at 
Vendome  (Fig.  303),  also  referable  to  the  first  half  of  -the  twelfth 
century,  the  southern  tower  of  the  Cathedral  of  Chartres  (Fig.  304), 
and  that  of  St.  Remain  at  Rouen,  have  a  further  buttress  in  the 
middle  of  the  walls.  An  organic  connection  of  the  stories  of  these 
towers  with  the  horizontal  divisions  of  the  walls  of  the  church  was 
effected  by  a  stepped  diminution  of  the  buttress  projections,  by 
string-courses  upon  all  sides,  and  by  groups  of  windows  correspond- 
ing to  the  landings  of  the  staircase  within.  In  the  belfry,  which  was 
elevated  above  the  roof  of  the  nave,  the  square  plan  of  the  sub- 
structure was  transformed  into  an  octagon  by  the  introduction  of 
four  small  turrets,  whose  pointed  roofs  were  carried  up  above  the 
main  cornice.  The  juncture  of  the  steeple  was  occasionally  masked 
by  four  gables.  In  accordance  with  the  Norman  models  the  stone 
spire  was  extremely  tapering.  Its  upper  parts  were  lavishly  and 
delicately  ornamented,  the  window  openings  being  multiplied  and 
increased  in  size,  the  turrets  carried  up1  as  slender  pinnacles,  and  the 
cornice  of  the  spire  decorated,  as  at  Senlis,  with  crockets  in  the  form 
of  bunches  of  leaves  similar  to  those  of  the  early  Gothic  capitals. 
By  this  arrangement  the  multiplication  of  members  in  the  super- 
structure, required  by  the  principles  of  design,  was  effected,  while 


FRANCE. 


495 


the  construction  was  rendered  lighter  by  the  perforations  of  the 
higher  surfaces.  The  decoration  of  the  spire  was  thus  made  to  cor- 
respond to  the  elaboration  of  the  portals,  although  it  was  not  at  first 
customary  to  place  the  side  entrances  in  the  substructure  of  the 
towers.  The  portals  of  the  twelfth  century  had  advanced  but  little 
beyond  those  of  the  Romanic  style,  and  are  generally  only  to  be 


Fig.  302. — Tower  of  St.  Ger- 
main at  Auxerre. 


Fig.  303. — Tower  of  the 
Church  of  the  Holy 
Trinity  at  Vendome. 


Fig.  304.  —  Southern 
Tower  of  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Chartres. 


distinguished  from  those  of  the  preceding  period  by  their  pointed 
forms.  Indeed,  the  entire  treatment  of  the  fagade  differed  but  lit- 
tle from  that  of  the  Romanic  churches. 

It  naturally  resulted,  from  the  great  dimensions  of  the  towers, 
that,  in  contrast  to  the  Romanic,  and  in  particular  to  the  Rhenish 
preference  for  many  structures  of  the  kind,  the  Gothic  style  had  but 


496  GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

two,  the  tower  above  the  intersection  of  transept  and  nave  being 
generally  omitted.  Even  the  two  steeples  of  the  front  were  but 
seldom  completed  during  this  period.  After  the  building  of  St. 
Denis  and  the  Cathedral  of  Chartres  the  method  of  construction  was 
so  changed  that  the  beginning  was  not  made  with  the  western  end, 
the  chief  fagade,  but  with  the  choir.  The  fagades  and  the  towers 
of  most  of  the  before -mentioned  cathedrals  and  abbey  churches 
were  thus  delayed  until  the  thirteenth  century,  and  consequently 
represent  the  second  phase  of  Gothic  development. 

In  the  latter  half  of  the  twelfth  century  the  architectural  activity 
of  the  He  de  France  and  its  neighborhood  was  of  great  extent  and 
success,  and  the  religious  enthusiasm  which  prevailed  from  the  third 
crusade  until  the  close  of  the  reign  of  Louis  IX.,  A.D.  1190  to  1270, 
even  increased  the  number  and  importance  of  the  monuments.  The 
experience  gained  during  the  first  fifty  years  of  the  new  style  taught 
most  important  practical  lessons,  and  many  of  the  traditional  and 
archaic  features,  as  well  as  the  uncertainties  and  imperfections  of  the 
design,  were  overcome.  Without  reducing  the  forms  to  a  conven- 
tional system,  and  without  decreasing  their  great  variety,  the  build- 
ers had  nevertheless  come  to  recognize  certain  principles  of  design : 
the  methods  were  no  longer  tentative,  but  of  a  regular  perfection, 
the  static  calculations  were  made  with  understanding,  the  taste  and 
artistic  feeling  improved  and  settled.  Hence,  as  might  have  been 
expected,  the  rise  of  the  system  was  rapid,  and  soon  led  to  its  great- 
est eminence. 

Chief  among  the  works  in  which  these  improvements  are  evident 
are  the  Cathedral  of  Soissons,  built  for  the  greater  part  during  the 
first  years  of  the  thirteenth  century,  the  southern  transept  of  which, 
however,  was  begun  soon  after  1175  ;  the  Cathedral  of  Chartres,  re- 
built after  the  conflagration  of  1195  and  almost  entirely  completed 
in  1220;  the  choir  of  the  Cathedral  of  Rheims,  the  completion  of 
which  was  delayed  until  the  close  of  the  century;  the  Cathedral  of 
Amiens,  built  between  1220  and  1288;  and  the  Choir  of  Beauvais, 
referable  to  the  period  between  1225  and  1269,  but  much  modified 
by  the  renovation  made  after  the  fall  of  some  parts  of  the  structure 
in  the  year  1284.  Besides  these  important  edifices,  which  are  to  be 
considered  as  representatives  of  the  highest  development  of  the 


FRANCE. 


497 


Gothic  style,  we  have  to  mention  the  Cathedral  of  Bourges  (Fig.  294). 
Its  reconstruction  was  determined  upon  as  early  as  1172,  and  Notre- 
Dame  at  Paris  was  chosen  as  the  model  for  the  five -aisled  plan  and 
for  the  arrangement  of  the  choir;  the  execution,  however,  was  not 
undertaken  until  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century.  Another 
example  is  the  Cathedral  of  Troyes,  the  choir  of  which  was  built 
between  1208  and  1223,  while  the  transept  was  not  completed  until 
1314,  and  the  nave  is  even  as  late  as  1429.  The  choirs  of  the  cathe- 
drals of  Auxerre,  Saint -Omer,  and  Le 
Mans  date  to  the  beginning  of  the  thir- 
teenth century.  The  nave  of  St.  Denis 
was  constructed  in  its  present  form  be- 
tween 1231  and  1281,  and  it  was  prob- 
ably about  this  time  that  the  rebuilding 
of  the  Cathedral  of  Tours,  after  its  de- 
struction by  fire  in  1168,  was  brought  to 
a  termination.  The  Abbey  Church  of 
St.  Julien,  also  in  Tours,  is  referable  to 
the  same  period.  The  Cathedral  of  Cha- 
lons-sur-Marne  was  built  entirely  anew 
after  the  conflagration  of  1230;  and  the 
Gothic  choir  of  the  Cathedral  of  Cam- 
bray  was  added  to  the  Romanic  nave  be- 
tween 1230  and  1251. 

The  designs  of  the  before-mentioned 
buildings  were  followed  in  smaller  con- 
vent and  collegiate  churches,  palace  chap- 
els, and  even  common  parish  churches,    rig.  305.— Section  of  the  Sainte 
with    some    alterations    naturally   deter-  Chapelle,  Paris, 

mined  by  local  peculiarities  and  by  the 

requirements  of  a  simpler  service.  The  Convent  Church  of  Ste. 
Nicaise  in  Rheims,  built  after  1229,  destroyed  during  the  French 
Revolution,  but  known  from  drawings,  must  have  been  among  the 
most  perfect  creations  of  the  Gothic  period.  Of  the  highest  im- 
portance is  the  Sainte  Chapelle  at  Paris  (Fig.  305),  the  gem  of  all 
palace  chapels,  built  between  1243  and  1251.  It  is  a  one-aisled 
structure  with  a  lower  story,  —  so  harmonious  in  proportions,  and 

32 


498  GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

so  tastefully  designed  in  details,  that  it  has  naturally  served  as  a 
model  for  all  similar  edifices  of  the  period,  such  as  the  Palace 
Chapel  of  Saint-Germain-en-Laye,  the  Chapel  of  the  Virgin  of  Saint- 
Germain -des-Pr^s  in  Paris,  and  that  of  St.  Germer  in  Picardy. 
Still,  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  certain  evidences  of  debasement 
appear  as  early  as  the  second  half  of  the  thirteenth  century,  as,  for 
instance,  in  the  Collegiate  Church  of  St.  Urbain  in  Troyes,  erected 
by  the  pope  Urban  IV.,  between  1261  and  1264,  upon  the  site  of  the 
house  in  which  his  cradle  had  stood,  next  to  the  cobbler's  shop  of 
his  father. 

Although,  as  is  well  known,  architectural  activity  in  France  was 
chiefly  directed  by  the  guilds  of  designers  at  Paris,  Laon,  Noyon, 
Chartres,  Rheims,  and  Amiens,  it  is  not  the  less  true  that  creative 
genius  in  this  art  was  much  more  personal  and  individual  than  at 
any  former  period.  While  the  names  of  but  few  builders,  such  as 
Abbot  Suger  or  Guillaume  of  Sens,  appear  in  connection  with  the 
earlier  Gothic  edifices,  the  architects  of  the  fully  developed  style  are 
frequently  mentioned.  Among  them  are  Ingebramus,  who  was  en- 
gaged at  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century  upon  the  Cathedral 
of  Rouen  and  the  Abbey  of  Bee;  Hugo  li  Bergier,  who  died  in 
1263,  the  highly  gifted  designer  of  Ste.  Nicaise  at  Rheims ;  Peter  of 
Montereau  (f  1266),  the  architect  of  the  beautiful  Sainte  Chapelle 
and  of  the  Chapel  of  the  Virgin  of  Saint-Germain-des-Pre's  in  Paris ; 
Eudes  of  Montreuil  (f  1289),  who  built  the  Church  of  the  Fran- 
ciscans in  Paris,  which  was  burned  in  the  sixteenth  century ;  and 
Robert  de  Coucy,  the  architect  of  the  Cathedral  of  Rheims,  and 
successor  of  Bergier  in  Ste.  Nicaise  of  that  town.  The  names  of 
three  designers  who  were  engaged  upon  the  Cathedral  of  Amiens 
before  1312  have  come  down  to  us, — Robert  de  Lusarches,  Thomas 
de  Cormont,  and  the  son  of  the  latter,  Master  Renaud.  The  great- 
est interest  attaches  to  Villard  de  Honnecourt  of  Picardy,  who  was 
employed  upon  the  Choir  of  Cambray,  begun  in  1230,  and  has  be- 
come well  known  through  his  sketch-book,  now  preserved  in  the 
National  Library  of  Paris.* 

*  J.  B.  Lassus  et  A.  Darcel,  Album  de  Villard  de  Honnecourt,  architecte  du  XIIIme 
siecle.  Paris,  1858. 


FRANCE.  499 

The  employment  of  architects  of  renown,  together  with  their 
well-trained  superintendents  and  workmen,  facilitated  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  new  style  into  the  provinces.  Normandy,  from  which 
such  important  structural  improvements  had  proceeded  in  the  fore- 
going period,  was  surprisingly  slow  in  accepting  the  new  methods 
of  design.  Indications  of  a  transitional  stage  in  the  second  half  of 
the  twelfth  century  are  there  few  and  isolated.  The  Abbey  Church 
of  Fecamp,  the  choir  of  which  was  completed  between  1 170  and  1 181, 
is  almost  entirely  of  the  Norman-Romanic  style,  and  displays  Gothic 
features  only  in  the  western  portions  of  the  nave,  dating  to  the  thir- 
teenth century.  A  similar  retention  of  Romanic  elements  appears 
in  the  Abbey  Church  of  Eu,  built  between  1186  and  1226,  although 
early  Gothic  details  are  comparatively  more  prominent  in  its  choir. 
The  designs  of  St.  Remy  and  Noyon  are  imitated  in  the  choir  of 
the  Abbey  Church  of  St.  Etienne  at  Caen,  built  at  about  this  time. 
Still,  in  this  building  there  are  many  Norman  reminiscences,  perhaps 
determined  by  the  reaction  from  England,  which  country  had,  at  an 
earlier  period,  directly  adopted  the  French-Gothic  style  in  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Canterbury.  The  Cathedral  of  Rouen,  begun  in  1207,  dis- 
plays in  far  greater  measure  the  Gothic  features  of  the  neighboring 
provinces,  this  being  particularly  the  case  in  the  choir,  with  its  three 
chapels  of  semicircular  plan  and  its  high  mullioned  windows.  But 
it  was  not  until  after  the  reappearance  of  the  earlier  method  of  con- 
struction in  the  cathedrals  of  Louviers  and  of  Lisieux, — the  former 
of  which  was  consecrated  in  1226,  while  the  latter  was  commenced  in 
the  same  year, — that  the  perfected  Gothic  style  was  introduced  into 
Normandy  in  the  Cathedral  of  Coutances,  begun  in  1250.  After  the 
political  union  of  this  province  with  France,  a  similarity  of  archi- 
tectural style  was  inevitable. 

Although  Burgundy  had  also  developed  many  of  those  features 
which  were  adopted  by  the  Gothic  architects,  the  advance  made  in 
the  He  de  France  was  not  immediately  followed  in  this  district. 
The  systems  of  the  older  parts  of  Vezelay  and  Autun,  chiefly  con- 
sisting of  pointed-arched  barrel-vaults  and  round-arched  cross-vaults, 
continued  to  be  employed,  the  pointed  arch  appearing  but  rarely 
during  the  twelfth  century.  The  first  introduction  of  the  fully  de- 
veloped style  was  in  the  Choir  of  Vezelay,  probably  built  between 


GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

1198  and  1206,  and  in  the  churches  of  Montreal  and  Pont  Aubert, 
which  show  a  certain  dependency  upon  the  architecture  of  the  neigh- 
boring diocese  of  Auxerre.  Notre -Dame  of  Dijon,  begun  about 
1230,  at  a  time  when  French-Gothic  had  already  attained  its  high- 
est eminence,  is  of  a  pleasing  transitional  character,  the  result, 
without  doubt,  of  the  employment  of  a  Burgundian  architect.  The 
general  features  of  the  plan,  especially  those  of  the  beautiful  por- 
tico, are  peculiar  to  this  province,  and  are  still  evident,  notwith- 
standing the  extensive  modern  restoration.  The  dependence  of 
Western  Switzerland  upon  Burgundy,  in  this  as  in  the  preceding 
epoch,  is  proved  by  the  Cathedral  of  Lausanne,  consecrated  in  1275, 
and  by  that  of  Geneva,  of  the  same  date. 

In  Southern  France,  where  the  fundamental  elements  of  the 
Gothic  were  more  entirely  lacking  than  in  Normandy  and  Burgun- 
dy, the  style  was  introduced  rather  than  developed, — opportunities 
favorable  for  this  change  presenting  themselves  after  the  persecu- 
tion of  the  Albigenses.  The  long -accustomed  barrel  -  vaults  and 
piers  of  rectangular  plan  were,  however,  retained  for  some  time. 
In  the  district  of  the  Rhone  the  Romanic  style  was  prevalent 
throughout  the  thirteenth  century,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
the  Cathedral  of  Lyons,  a  town  much  influenced  by  Burgundy,  had 
adopted  many  Gothic  forms  early  in  this  age.  The  transition  was 
more  complete  in  the  western  part  of  the  province,  especially  in 
Languedoc,  where,  after  the  victories  of  the  French,  the  new  style 
was  introduced,  as  it  were  by  force.  The  Abbey  Church  of  St.  Paul 
and  the  Cathedral,  both  at  Narbonne, — the  latter  of  which,  because  of 
its  enormous  dimensions,  was  not  continued  beyond  the  choir, — are 
important  monuments  of  this  stage  of  development,  as  are  also  the 
Cathedral  of  Beziers  and  the  Abbey  Church  of  St.  Nazaire  at  Car- 
cassonne. Similar  to  the  Cathedral  of  Narbonne  is  that  of  Clermont- 
Ferrand,  the  earlier  portion  of  which  was  built  between  1248  and 
1390,  the  first  architect  being  Jean  de  Campis.  In  this  building  the 
style  of  Northern  France  is  recognizable,  and  it  is  even  probable 
that  the  architect  himself  was  a  native  of  the  He  de  France.  If  the 
style  of  this  building  be  compared  with  the  independent  design  of 
Notre-Dame-du-Port  of  the  same  place,  the  entire  change  from  the 
artistic  methods  of  the  thirteenth  century,  and  the  fact  that  the 


FRANCE. 


501 


country  had  in  the  mean  time  become  a  French  province,  are  plainly 
evident. 

Even  before  the  provinces  of  the  South  had  been  subjugated  by 
the  He  de  France,  those  of  the  West  had  come  into  the  possession 
of  the  English  kings,  through  the  marriage  of  Henry  II.  with  Eleanor. 
It  is  not  strange,  therefore,  that  the  Gothic,  introduced  during  the 
first  half  of  the  thirteenth  century,  should  have  been  characterized 
by  Norman  and  English  traits.  Still,  the  Choir  of  St.  Maurice  in  An- 
gers, which  was  added  to  the  Romanic  structure  between  1225  and 


Fig.  306. — Section  of  the  Gothic  part  of  the  Cathedral  of  Poitiers. 

1240,  shows  so  few  Gothic  features  that  this  independence,  at  a  time 
when  the  neighboring  provinces  had  attained  to  so  high  a  degree 
of  development  in  the  new  style,  can  only  have  resulted  from  a  con- 
scious resistance  to  such  innovations.  In  like  manner  the  remark- 
able Cathedral  of  Poitiers, — the  only  church  of  this  kind  of  great 
dimensions  in  Northern  France,  and,  moreover,  entirely  of  the  Ro- 
manic style  in  the  eastern  portions,  which  were  begun  in  1 162, — has 
side  aisles  of  nearly  the  same  height  as  the  nave,  thus  following  the 
example  of  certain  Romanic  edifices  of  the  South,  even  in  the  Gothic 


502 


GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 


additions  to  the  original  structure  (Fig.  306).  It  is  true  that,  after 
the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  the  influence  of  Central  France 
became  more  and  more  apparent  in  the  West, — as,  for  instance,  in 
the  Gothic  parts  of  St.  Andre  in  Bordeaux,  and  especially  in  the  Ca- 
thedral of  Limoges,  begun  in  1270;  but  at  the  same  time  many 
national  peculiarities  are  manifest,  notably  in  those  districts  where 
they  had  been  determined  by  the  lack  of  building-stone  and  the 
consequent  employment  of  brick.  Thus,  in  Aquitania,  one-aisled 

churches  continued  to  be  built  at  a  later 
period  than  in  the  Provence,  the  West- 
ern countries  having  imitated  in  this 
respect  the  domed  structures  of  the 
Romanic  period.  It  became  custom- 
ary to  place  the  heavy  buttress -piers 
within  the  building  instead  of  without, 
thus  forming  a  number  of  chapels  upon 
the  sides.  In  the  Cathedral  of  Alby 
(Fig.  307)  an  imposing  gallery  was 
built  above  these  chapels,  the  summits 
of  its  cross-vaults  reaching  nearly  to 
the  height  of  the  nave,  so  as  to  allow 
the  edifice  to  be  covered  by  a  single 
roof,  like  that  of  the  Church  of  Poi- 
tiers. A  massiveness  of  masonry,  fully 
equalling  that  of  Alby,  is  noticeable 
in  several  buildings  in  South-western 
France,  the  towers  of  the  cathedrals  of 
Narbonne  and  Beziers,  as  well  as  those 
of  a  number  of  parochial  and  convent  churches,  having  almost  the 
appearance  of  fortifications.  The  walls  naturally  became  even 
thicker  in  those  cases  where  they  were  built  of  flint  rubble  instead 
of  brick. 

None  of  these  countries  exercised  great  influence  upon  the 
growth  of  the  style,  and  during  the  thirteenth  century  the  northern 
provinces  of  the  interior  alone  were  of  importance  in  this  respect. 
We  there  find  a  logical  development  of  the  principles  which  had 
been  adopted  in  the  early  Gothic  of  the  twelfth  century.  The  plan 


Fig.  307. — Plan  of  the  Cathedral  of 
Alby. 


FRANCE. 


503 


was  improved  by  a  harmonious  adjustment,  rather  than  by  any  real 
transformation.  The  choir  retained  its  radial  chapels,  the  semicircle 
of  the  termination  being  more  arid  more  frequently  exchanged  for  a 
polygon.  In  imitation  of  the  plan  of  Notre-Dame  of  Paris,  a  dupli- 
cation of  the  side  aisles  and  of  the  surrounding  passage  became  more 
common ;  but  it  was  only  in  rare  instances,  as  at  Chartres  (Fig.  308) 
and  Le  Mans,  that  the  complicated  arrangement  was  adopted  to 
which  the  radial  enlargement  of  the  supports  of  the  choir  naturally 
led,  it  being  generally  found  preferable  to  divide  into  five  aisles  only 


Fig.  308.— Plan  of  the  Cathedral 
of  Chartres. 


Fig.  309. — Plan  of  the 
Cathedral  of  Rheims. 


Fig.  310. — Plan  of  the  Ca- 
thedral of  Amiens. 


that  portion  of  the  choir  which  was  of  rectilinear  plan,  and  to  intro- 
duce radial  chapels  in  place  of  the  outermost  passage,  thus  increas- 
ing their  depth,  as  at  Rheims  (Fig.  309)  and  Amiens  (Fig.  310). 
Notre-Dame  of  Paris  also  provided  an  excellent  example  of  an  ex- 
tension of  the  presbytery,  which  had  come  to  be  so  desirable  in  the 
cathedrals,  the  transept  in  this  church  having  been  placed  almost  in 
the  middle  of  the  entire  structure.  This  disposition  now  became 
the  rule,  the  enlargement  of  the  choir  permitting  the  transept  to  be 
made  accessible  to  the  lay  worshippers.  When  the  choir  of  short 


504  GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

plan  was  retained,  as  in  the  Cathedral  of  Rheims,  the  transept  was 
enclosed  with  the  choir,  this  being  readily  effected  by  making  the 
choir  five-aisled  and  the  nave  thrde-aisled,  so  that  the  width  of  the 
former  was  nearly  equal  to  the  length  of  the  transept.  The  transept 
itself  was  generally  three-aisled,  and  treated  in  elevation  like  the 
body  of  the  church,  the  cruciform  plan  thus  being  emphasized, 
while  the  entire  edifice  became  of  more  harmonious  proportions. 
Rather  than  return  to  the  insufficient  one-aisled  transept  of  slight 
projection,  like  that  of  Notre -Dame,  it  was  in  exceptional  cases 
found  preferable  to  omit  the  transept  altogether,  as,  for  instance, 
in  the  Cathedral  of  Bourges,  which  in  other  respects  is  closely  re- 
lated to  that  of  Paris.  In  this  arrangement  an  equal  height  of  the 
building  from  one  end  to  the  other  naturally  resulted,  the  monoto- 
nous sides  thus  having,  at  least  upon  the  exterior,  a  certain  resem- 
blance to  those  of  the  peripteral  temples  of  Greece  (Fig.  294). 

Scarcely  less  important  than  those  of  the  plan  were  the  changes 
which  affected  the  elevation.  The  simple  columns  of  the  interior 
were  almost  universally  given  up,  but  piers  did  not  often  take  their 
place,  being  only  observable  among  the  more  prominent  buildings, 
as,  for  instance,  in  the  cathedrals  of  Troyes  and  Rouen,  and,  alter- 
nating with  round  shafts,  in  the  Cathedral  of  Chartres.  In  general, 
heavy  supports  of  this  kind  were  employed  only  in  those  positions 
where  exceptional  stability  was  required,  as,  for  instance,  at  the  inter- 
section of  transept  and  nave  and  beneath  the  towers.  The  inorganic 
method  of  the  early  Gothic  style  in  placing  the  boltels  above  the 
capitals  of  the  pillars  was  superseded  by  an  arrangement  similar  to 
that  of  the  Romanic  supports,  by  which  the  engaged  shafts  were 
continued  down  to  the  ground,  the  pier  being  thus  surrounded  by 
three-quarter  columns.  These  were  increased  in  number  from  four 
to  eight,  and,  probably  first  in  the  Cathedral  of  Le  Mans,  to  twelve, 
being  of  different  heights,  according  to  their  employment  as  vault- 
ing posts  for  the  ceilings  of  the  nave  or  of  the  side  aisles,  or  as 
mouldings  upon  the  intrados  of  the  arches.  They  concealed  the 
kernel  of  the  support  almost  entirely,  so  that  the  execution  of  an 
independent  capital  was  no  longer  possible.  In  the  nave  of  St. 
Denis  the  bundle  of  small  shafts  was  made  the  more  prominent  by 
channelling  the  few  surfaces  of  the  kernel  which  still  remained  visi- 


FRANCE. 


505 


ble,  an  effective  alternation  of  roundels  and  scotias  thus  being  ob- 
tained. 

It  was  necessary  to  alter  the  low  proportions  of  the  capitals 
which  had  surmounted  the  engaged  columns  during  the  Romanic 
epoch,  in  order  to  bring  them  into  harmony  with  the  excessively 
elongated  shafts.  The  Corinthian  calyx  kernel  was  increased  in 
height  and  strength  by  the  addition  of  an  abacus  of  several  mould- 
ings, adapted  by  its  polygonal  or  circular  plan  to  receive  the  ribs  of 
similar  section.  The  character  of  the  sculptured  decoration  was 
entirely  changed.  Even  in  the  earliest  ages  of  the  Gothic  style  a 


Fig.  311. — Capital  dating 
to  the  beginning  of  the 
Thirteenth  Century. 


Fig.  312. — Capital  from  the 
Sainte  Chapelle,  Paris. 


Fig.  313. — Capital  from  the 
Triforium  of  the  Cathedral 
of  Limoges. 


transition  from  the  conventional  to  a  more  realistic  foliage  was  ap- 
parent. This  led  at  first  to  the  introduction  of  twisted  and  folded 
knops,  which,  like  the  spring  buds  imitated,  did  not  distinctly  dis- 
play the  individual  characteristics  of  any  kind  of  foliage.  By  the 
year  1240,  however,  the  traditional  plant  forms  were  entirely  ex- 
changed for  realistic  representations  of  the  leaves  of  trees,  such  as 
the  oak,  maple,  fig,  and  beech ;  or  of  shrubs,  as  the  laurel,  rose,  holly, 
raspberry -bush,  and  grape-vine.  The  branches  were  placed  more 
loosely  and  unsymmetrically  around  the  calyx,  not  appearing  to 
form  part  of  the  architectural  member,  but  showing  the  ends  of 
their  stems  in  such  a  manner  as  to  seem  merely  fastened  upon  it. 


5o6  GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

So  inorganic  an  arrangement  naturally  led  to  the  rapid  decline  of 
this  style  of  decoration,  through  want  of  a  correct  conventional 
treatment.  Notwithstanding  their  elaboration,  this  development  of 
the  supports  gave  them  a  character  of  great  unity,  increased  by  the 
boltels  which  ran  uninterrupted  from  the  floor  to  the  impost  of  the 
vault.  The  sixfold  vaults  of  the  Romanic  style,  requiring,  as  they 
did,  an  alternation  of  columns  and  piers,  were  given  up  in  favor  of 
a  more  harmonious  constructive  system.  The  Gothic  vaultings 
made  it  possible  to  deviate  from  the  square  plan,  the  arrangement 
of  groins  relieving  it  from  the  restrictions  of  the  Roman  cross- 
vaults,  while  the  pointed  arch  permitted  the  adoption  of  any  desira- 
ble height  of  the  crowns.  In  like  manner  the  abutments  and  flying 
buttresses  stood  ready  to  receive  the  lateral  thrust,  considerably  in- 
creased upon  the  narrow  sides  of  the  compartments.  Thus  all  the 
members  of  this  constructive  system  became  equal  in  functional 
importance.  The  rhythmical  alternation  of  columns  and  piers  was 
lost,  it  is  true,  but  this  was  more  than  made  up  by  the  perspective 
effect  attained  by  the  duplication  of  the  transverse  arches,  and  by 
the  freedom  from  the  disadvantages  of  supports  of  different  sec- 
tions. The  greatest  improvement,  however,  was  the  more  elaborate 
and  delicate  memberment  of  transverse  arches  and  ribs,  in  which 
the  mouldings  of  the  supports  were  continued,  their  lines  being  re- 
peated with  the  desirable  emphasis  and  lightness. 

The  walls  of  the  nave  were  simplified  and  improved  by  the 
omission  of  the  galleries.  The  fourfold  horizontal  division,  retained 
from  the  Norman  style  by  the  early  Gothic,  had  introduced  an  up- 
per story,  which,  while  it  was  rarely  used,  cramped  the  development 
of  the  body  of  the  church,  greatly  curtailing  the  height  of  the  side 
aisles,  and  crowding  the  triforium  and  the  clerestory  windows.  By 
giving  up  the  galleries  the  aisles  assumed  their  due  height,  and 
space  remained  above  them  in  the  nave  for  a  more  ample  triforium 
and  for  larger  clerestory  windows. 

Conformably  to  the  Gothic  system  of  memberment,  the  windows 
of  the  clerestory,  which  had  previously  been  almost  entirely  without 
ornament,  were  provided  with  traceries.  At  first,  as  in  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Bourges  {Fig.  314),  a  number  of  adjoining  openings  were  con- 
nected by  a  single  archivolt,  in  the  tympanon  of  which  was  pierced 


FRANCE. 


SO/ 


a  small  rose-window.  This  was  afterwards  enlarged  as  much  as  the 
space  would  permit,  while  the  remaining  corners  of  the  wall  were  so 
cut  out  that  only  a  framework  of  tracery  remained,  and  the  vertical 
supports  between  the  windows  were  reduced  to  mullions.  This  ad- 
vance seems  to  have  been  first  made  in  the  Cathedral  of  Rheims. 


Fig.  314. — System  of  the  Cathedral  of         Fig.  315. — System  of       Fig.  316. — System  of  the 

Bourges.  the    Cathedral    of  Nave  of  the  Abbey 

Amiens.  Church  of  St.  Denis. 


Finally  the  same  system  was  duplicated  in  each  group :  four  point- 
ed-arched windows,  three  rose-windows,  the  corresponding  openings 
in  the  corners  being  so  combined  in  one  compartment  that  no  un- 
membered  surface  of  the  clerestory  wall  remained.  This  was  the 
case  in  the  Cathedral  of  Amiens  (Fig.  315)  and  the  Abbey  Church 
of  St.  Denis  (Fig.  316).  The  pointed  arches  of  the  windows  were 


508  GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

decorated  with  cusps,  as  in  the  Sainte  Chapelle.  The  design  of 
the  traceries  thus  resulting  could  not  be  improved  upon  by  the 
super- elaboration  of  the  geometrical  lines  in  the  later  struct- 
ures. 

The  success  attained  by  this  arrangement  of  the  windows,  by 
their  effective  traceries,  and  especially  by  their  magnificent  stained 
glass,  led  to  a  further  development  of  the  triforium.  The  principal 
mullions  of  the  windows  were  made  to  rise  from  the  lower  string- 
course of  the  triforium,  the  openings  of  which  corresponded  to  those 
of  the  clerestory.  A  certain  organic  connection  between  the  two 
upper  horizontal  divisions  of  the  nave  was  thus  effected,  even  in 
those  cases  where  the  windows  of  the  triforium  were  much  cramped, 
or  closed  entirely  by  panels,  because  of  the  outer  lean-to  roof  of  the 
side  aisles.  In  some  cases  the  difficulties  of  this  construction  were 
avoided  by  the  adoption  of  a  system  of  saddle-roofing,  which  may 
perhaps  be  regarded  as  too  great  a  concession  to  the  effect  attained 
in  the  interior  through  the  multiplication  and  extension  of  the  aper- 
tures. It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  enlargement  of  the  windows, 
which  appears  to  have  been  first  attempted  in  the  Abbey  Church  of 
St.  Denis,  greatly  increased  the  lightness  of  the  construction  and  the 
brilliancy  of  the  illumination,  while  relieving  the  triforium  from  the 
disadvantages  inevitably  attending  the  use  of  blind  windows.  Still, 
notwithstanding  the  logical  consequence  of  this  step,  the  technical 
difficulties  presented  by  its  execution  were  too  great  to  allow  of  its 
extension  beyond  the  choir. 

The  emulation  of  the  architects,  favored  by  the  unparalleled  suc- 
cess of  the  style,  led  to  a  continual  increase  of  the  dimensions  and 
of  the  comparative  heights.  The  naves  of  the  two  chief  edifices  of 
Normandy, — St.  Etienneand  Trinite"  at  Caen, — had  been  but  15  and 
1 8  m.  high,  respectively.  That  of  Notre-Dame  at  Chalons  was  21  m. ; 
of  the  Cathedral  of  Laon  25  ;  that  of  Sens  27, — these  not  equalling  in 
height  twice  the  width  of  their  plans, — a  proportion  which  the  32.5  m. 
of  the  nave  of  the  Cathedral  of  Chartres  but  slightly  exceeded.  The 
nave  of  Notre-Dame  of  Paris,  only  1 1  m.  broad,  reached  a  height  of 
32  m.,  nearly  three  times  the  former  dimension  ;  and  this  proportion 
was  even  surpassed  by  the  35  m.  of  the  Cathedral  of  Rheims,  the 
39  m.  of  Amiens,  and  the  44  m.  of  Beauvais, — the  last  of  which  was 


FRANCE.  509 

rivalled  in  this  respect  by  no  other  building  of  France :  its  early  fall 
having  been  a  warning  to  subsequent  designers. 

As  this  exaggeration  of  the  vertical  dimensions  was  accompanied 
by  a  resolution  of  the  wall  into  isolated  supports  of  daring  attenua- 
tion, the  builders  were  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  every  possible 
constructive  expedient  in  order  to  meet,  from  without,  the  side- 
thrust  of  the  vault.  The  serious  character  of  this  task  is  evident  in 
the  important  development  of  the  abutments,  which,  in  striking  con- 
trast to  the  slightness  and  perforation  of  all  the  other  masonry,  had 
been  much  increased  in  mass,  while  restricted  in  architectural  mem- 
berment.  The  buttresses  were  at  first  but  rarely  decorated  with 
tracery  in  relief,  with  pointed  gables,  or  with  corner  pinnacles,  being 
simply  diminished  by  a  number  of  inclined  steps,  which,  like  the 
similarly  inclined  window-sills,  were  better  adapted  to  the  require- 
ments of  the  rainy  North  than  were  the  horizontal  surfaces  of  classic 
cornices.  A  plain  gable  roofing  commonly  formed  the  termination 
of  the  buttresses,  this  position  being,  in  exceptional  instances,  occu- 
pied by  graceful  miniature  towers,  decorated  with  tracery  in  relief, 
or  so  perforated  as  to  provide  a  standing-place  for  a  statue. 

The  same  simplicity  is  at  first  observable  in  the  flying  buttresses, 
although  in  these  a  certain  graceful  slenderness  naturally  resulted 
from  their  constructive  functions,  as  well  as  from  considerations  con- 
nected with  the  lighting  of  the  interior  of  the  edifice.  At  times  the 
gutter  running  upon  the  back  of  these  abutments  was  supported  by 
tracery ;  or  the  inner  end  of  the  arch,  adjoining  the  impost  of  the 
vault,  was  placed  upon  a  small  column  which  rose  from  the  outer 
wall  of  the  triforium.  In  three-aisled  churches  a  single  flying  but- 
tress was  generally  thought  to  be  sufficient,  but  a  second  was  occa- 
sionally placed  above  it  to  uphold  the  timbered  roof  and  to  receive 
the  gutter  (Fig.  317).  In  five -aisled  edifices,  where  a  second  and 
lighter  flying  buttress  was  required  above  the  outer  supports,  four 
arches,  at  least,  were  necessary  (Fig.  294). 

A  somewhat  more  elaborate  decoration  was  devoted  to  the  choir, 
the  many  chapels  of  which  were  of  an  especially  imposing  effect 
upon  the  exterior.  The  greatest  advance  in  this  connection  was  the 
adoption  of  a  polygonal,  instead  of  a  semicircular  plan,  for  the  choir 
itself,  the  surrounding  passage,  and  the  radial  chapels.  The  end 


5io 


GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 


walls  of  the  transept,  which  commonly  were  opened  by  grand  por- 
tals, were  also  improved  by  the  introduction  of  large  upper  windows, 
frequently  of  a  circular  form,  and  by  a  more  elaborate  treatment  of 
the  corner  buttresses.  In  some  cases,  as  for  instance  in  the  design 
of  the  Cathedral  of  Rheims,  these  terminating  walls  were  developed 
into  real  fa9ades,  like  that  of  the  western  front,  the  two  chief  abut- 
ments becoming  towers.  As 
a  central  tower  was  also 
placed  above  the  intersection 
of  transept  and  nave,  this 
multiplication,  if  it  had  been 
carried  out,  would  have  given 
to  the  structure  a  certain  sim- 
ilarity to  the  Romanic  cathe- 
drals and  abbey  churches  of 
the  Rhenish  provinces.  Fort- 
unately it  was  soon  seen  that 
this  arrangement  was  imprac- 
ticable :  even  the  two  towers 
of  the  chief  fagade  have  been 
but  rarely  completed,  and  a 
group  of  seven,  designed  in 
the  Gothic  system,  would 
have  been  wholly  out  of  the 
question. 

The  chief  attention  was 
devoted  to  a  rich  and  impos- 
ing elaboration  of  the  fagade. 
That  of  Notre-Dame  in  Paris 
is  typical  of  this  phase  of  de- 
velopment, that  of  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Rheims  perhaps  even  more  successful  (Fig.  318).  Three 
grand  portals,  the  splayed  sides  of  which  project  as  far  beyond 
the  thickness  of  the  wall  as  do  the  buttresses  of  the  towers,  en- 
tirely occupy  the  lower  part  of  the  front.  The  pilaster  corners 
of  the  Romanic  portals  are  here  reduced  to  narrow  strips,  while 
the  place  of  the  columns  is  taken  by  rows  of  statues,  the  canopies 


Fig.  317. — System  of  Abutments  of  the  Nave  of 
St.  Denis. 


FRANCE. 


above  these  corresponding  to  the  former  capitals.  Figures  are  placed 
around  the  soffit  of  the  arch  in  deep  scotias,  which  contrast  strik- 
ingly with  the  round  mouldings  so  prominent  in  the  Romanic 


Fig.  318.— Fa9ade  of  the  Cathedral  of  Rheims. 

gate-way.     Dozens  of  these  statuettes,  seated  and  upright,  are  dis- 
posed  above  and  beside  one  another,  separated  only  by  bracket 


512  GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

projections  which  serve  both  as  canopies  and  as  supports.  The 
many  figures,  intended  to  represent  the  host  of  martyrs  and  saints, 
render  the  composition  unpleasantly  crowded,  and  the  forward  in- 
clination of  those  near  the  summit  of  the  arch  gives  a  most  inor- 
ganic character  to  the  entire  architectural  framework.  The  small 
figures  of  the  tympanon  sculpture  are  generally  confused  and  unsat- 
isfactory in  effect,  although  they  are  decidedly  preferable  to  tracery 
in  relief,  such  as  that  above  the  doors  of  the  Cathedral  of  Rheims. 
The  roofs  of  the  portals  are  masked  by  gablets,  which  are  decorated 
with  figures  or  tracery,  besides  being  provided  upon  the  edges  with 
crockets,  and  terminated  by  finials. 

Above  the  portals  there  is  either  an  imposing  horizontal  row  of 
tabernacles  and  statues  extending  across  the  entire  fa9ade,  or  the 
windows  follow  without  this  intervention :  in  the  towers  narrow 
slits,  and  in  the  nave  a  large  rose -window,  divided  by  tracery  of 
much  better  effect  than  the  radial  columns  of  the  round  windows  of 
the  Romanic  style.  A  second  frieze  of  tabernacles  surrounds  the 
upper  part  of  the  square  tower ;  above  this  rises  the  richly  decorated 
octagon  of  the  belfry,  the  pinnacles  and  finials  of  which  mask  the 
juncture  of  the  spire.  In  the  few  cases  where  the  entire  tower  was 
completed,  it  is  of  a  majestic  as  well  as  a  rich  and  elegant  effect. 
The  ornamentation,  which  at  first  had  been  comparatively  limited, 
as  in  Notre-Dame  at  Paris,  was  increased  at  Laon  and  Amiens,  un- 
til, in  the  facades  of  the  Cathedral  and  the  Church  of  St.  Nicaise  at 
Rheims,  and  in  that  of  St.  Urbain  at  Troyes,  the  ornamental  details 
became  almost  too  predominant. 

The  highest  development  of  French-Gothic  was  reached  during 
the  reign  of  Louis  IX.,  and  may,  on  the  whole,  be  said  to  have  been 
maintained  throughout  the  entire  thirteenth  century.  The  subse- 
quent changes  were  by  no  means  advantageous.  The  political  cir- 
cumstances of  the  country  cannot  be  held  responsible  for  this 
retrograde  movement,  for  the  miseries  of  the  English  war  did  not 
begin  until  1336,  and  the  insurrections  and  pestilences  of  this  pe- 
riod interfered  but  little  with  the  architectural  activity.  Favorable 
occasions  and  rich  patrons  still  existed,  though  their  furtherance 
was  rather  directed  towards  the  erection  of  secular  buildings ;  and 
during  the  latter  half  of  the  century,  art  was  greatly  encouraged  by 


FRANCE.  513 

Charles  V.,  A.  D.  1364  to  1380.  The  cause  of  the  decline  is  rather 
to  be  found  in  the  inevitable  reaction  from  the  great  efforts  of  the 
thirteenth  century :  an  artistic  exhaustion  succeeding  the  enthusi- 
astic activity  of  the  previous  age.  Furthermore,  the  most  impor- 
tant tasks  had  been  already  accomplished ;  the  great  cathedrals 
had  been  so  far  advanced  that  only  the  work  of  completion  re- 
mained,— a  work  which  is  always  less  attractive  and  suggestive  than 
that  of  original  creation.  And,  finally,  the  capricious  tendencies 
which  had  become  more  and  more  prominent  towards  the  close  of 
the  thirteenth  century, — instance  the  Cathedral  of  S£ez  (Fig.  319), — 
had  impaired  the  serious  conception  and  the  pure  taste  of  that 
period,  by  the  attempt  to  improve  upon  an  architectural  system, 
already  perfect  in  construction  and  design,  by  exaggerating  the 
characteristic  features,  and  by  overloading  the  architectural  frame- 
work with  an  inorganic  ornamentation. 

In  the  completion  of  the  earlier  edifices  many  of  the  vaults  of 
the  nave  and  most  of  the  fagades  and  towers  were  executed  during 
the  fourteenth  century.  As  to  the  former,  a  harmonious  juncture 
with  the  vaults  of  the  choir  was  generally  effected ;  as  to  the  latter, 
however,  the  artistic  excellence  of  the  Cathedral  of  Rheims  was 
never  again  attained,  notwithstanding  the  far  greater  expenditure  and 
elaboration.  Noteworthy  innovations  resulted  in  those  cases  where 
the  work  of  the  fourteenth  century  was  as  important  as  it  was  in  the 
cathedrals  of  Meaux,  Senlis,  Chalons-sur-Marne,  Toul,  Tours,  Bayeux, 
Evreux,  and  Coutances,  in  Northern  France,  and  in  those  of  Cler- 
mont-Ferrand, Limoges,  Beziers,  Narbonne,  in  St.  Maximin  near 
Marseille,  and  St.  Nazaire  at  Carcassonne,  in  the  Southern  districts. 
By  far  the  greater  part  of  the  Cathedral  of  Arras,  which  has  been 
almost  entirely  destroyed,  of  that  of  Troyes,  and  of  the  Church  of 
St.  Benigne  at  Dijon,  are  referable  to  the  fourteenth  century.  The 
chapels  of  the  Virgin  frequently  added  to  the  larger  churches, — as 
to  the  Cathedral  of  Rouen,  A.D.  1302  to  1360,  and  to  the  Collegiate 
Church  at  Mantes, — by  their  size  and  importance  gave  occasion  for 
an  extremely  lavish  and  elegant  treatment.  Entirely  new  ecclesias- 
tical edifices  were  rare  during  this  epoch,  the  most  important  being 
the  Abbey  Church  of  St.  Ouen  in  Rouen  (Figs.  320  and  321),  found- 
ed in  1318,  the  choir  of  which  was  completed  in  1339.  Its  nave  was, 

33 


GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

however,  not.  begun  before  the  fifteenth  century,  and  work  was  not 
commenced  upon  the  fa$ade  until  1515.  To  the  earlier  age  belongs 
also  the  Church  of  the  Celestines  at  Paris,  completed  in  1370,  once 
remarkable  for  its  many  monuments,  but  destroyed  during  the  Revo- 
lution ;  also  the  Convent  Church  of  St.  Bertin  at  Saint  Omer,  begun 


Fig.  319. — System  of  the  Cathedral 
of  Se"ez. 


A  i* 


Fig.  320. — System  of  St.  Ouen  at 
Rouen. 


in  1330.  In  Southern  France  the  Church  of  St.  Michel-es-Liens  at 
Limoges,  and  the  cathedrals  of  Mende,  Bazas,  and  Rodez,  are  refer- 
able to  the  second  half  of  the  fourteenth  century. 

The  vertical  principles  of  design,  already  appearing  in  the  slen- 
der proportions  of  all  the  supports,  and  in  the  memberment  of  the 
piers  corresponding  to  the  ribs  of  the  vault,  had  come  to  be  recog- 


FRANCE. 


515 


nized  as  the  most  important  characteristic  of  the  Gothic  style,  both 
in  general  composition  and  in  detail.  The  supports  had  hitherto 
been  treated  as  a  bundle  of  boltels,  the  separation  of  which  from 
the  vaulting  ribs  of  pear-shaped  section  was  marked  and  even  em- 
phasized by  the  forms  of  their  capitals.  These  boltels  were  now 


Fig.  321. — Interior  of  St.  Ouen  at  Rouen. 

assimilated  as  much  as  possible  to  the  ribs.  Their  common  base 
was  given  up,  the  support  rising  from  a  polygonal  socle,  as  a  loose 
aggregate  of  independent  roundels.  The  vaulting  posts  became 
more  and  more  slender  and  reed -like,  while  their  capitals  were 
similarly  diminished  in  size,  and  at  last  omitted  altogether.  The 
transition  from  the  supports  to  the  ribs  became  uninterrupted,  and 


GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

the  section  of  the  former  was  transferred  to  the  latter.  The  pre- 
dominance of  verticalism  was  thus  carried  to  its  extreme  logical 
development. 

The  same  tendencies  made  themselves  evident  in  the  treatment 
of  the  windows,  which  were  enlarged  as  much  as  possible.  The 
clerestory  windows  were  now  generally  connected  with  the  open- 
ings of  the  triforium,  the  memberment  of  which  was  the  same,  while 
the  rear  wall,  if  possible,  was  opened  to  the  light.  Following  the 
principle  adopted  in  the  piers  of  the  nave,  the  mouldings  of  the 
jambs  were  made  of  the  same  profile  as  the  tracery,  from  which 
they  were  not  separated  by  capitals.  The  tracery  itself  was  no 
longer  limited  to  the  regular  forms  previously  employed.  The  place 
of  the  rose- windows  was  taken  by  a  complicated  arrangement  of 
segmental  lines,  the  endeavor  of  the  designer  being  to  produce  the 
greatest  possible  variety.  A  wavy  form,  resembling  a  tongue  of 
flame, —  whence  the  term  "flamboyant,"  —  was  introduced  shortly 
before  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century,  and  soon  became  pre- 
dominant. The  changes  which  affected  the  memberment  of  the 
windows  were  of  the  greatest  importance  to  the  general  design,  in- 
asmuch as  these  forms  were  extended  over  all  the  wall  surfaces  as 
an  ornamentation  in  relief. 

This  overloaded  system  of  decoration  was  developed  chiefly  upon 
the  exterior,  where  the  architectural  framework  was  more  and  more 
hidden  by  balustrades,  gablets,  pinnacles,  etc.,  all  of  which  assumed 
the  soft  and  flowing  lines  of  the  flamboyant  tracery.  The  more  the 
designers  endeavored  to  surpass  previous  works  by  the  elaboration 
of  such  an  ornamentation,  the  less  attention  did  they  devote  to  se- 
rious constructive  problems.  This  decadence  kept  pace  with  the 
gradual  degradation  of  mediaeval  ideals. 

Ecclesiastical  architecture  declined  under  these  conditions,  but 
the  light  and  graceful  style  of  the  later  period  was  well  adapted  to 
the  development,  or  at  least  to  the  decoration,  of  secular  buildings. 
The  fortress-like  palaces  did  not  permit  the  employment  of  the  or- 
ganic system  of  the  earlier  Gothic  construction  in  the  towers  of 
round  or  of  polygonal  plan  with  turrets  at  the  corners,  in  the  lower 
stories,  the  wooden  ceilings,  etc.  During  the  later  period,  when  the 
ornamentation  was  rather  an  addition  to  the  construction  than  a 


FRANCE.  517 

natural  growth  from  it,  every  wall  surface  was  treated  like  a  screen, 
and  covered  with  an  elaborate  decoration. 

The  contrast  was  striking  between  the  magnificent  chapel  of 
Louis  IX.  and  the  palace  itself,  which  once  occupied  the  place  of 
the  present  Palais  de  Justice  in  Paris.  The  royal  dwelling  consisted 
of  a  complex  of  apartments  dating  to  various  periods,  and,  with  the 
exception  of  the  four-aisled  hall  built  by  Philip  IV.,  seems  to  have 
been  of  no  monumental  importance.  After  the  middle  of  the  four- 
teenth century  the  building  no  longer  served  as  a  residence.  No 
greater  significance  in  artistic  respects  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the  cas- 
tles of  the  counts  of  Champagne  at  Troyes  and  Provins,  to  the  castle 
of  the  counts  of  Poitou  in  Poitiers,  or  to  that  of  the  dukes  of  Bur- 
gundy at  Dijon.  The  same  is  the  case  with  the  residences  of  the 
archbishops  and  bishops,  in  which  the  principal  hall  was  generally  of 
two  aisles,  with  a  simple  range  of  columns  in  the  longitudinal  axis. 
Even  the  papal  palace  of  Avignon,  before  the  middle  of  the  four- 
teenth century,  was  an  insignificant  structure. 

It  was  not  until  the  reign  of  Charles  V.  that  the  old  citadel  of  the 
Louvre  was  raised  to  the  dignity  and  artistic  importance  of  a  palace 
(Fig.  322),  and  that  the  example  set  by  this  work  was  followed  in  a 
series  of  imposing  seigneurial  constructions.  The  fine  staircase  of 
the  Louvre,  the  work  of  Raimond  du  Temple,  was  greatly  renowned 
during  the  century  and  a  half  which  preceded  the  entire  reconstruc- 
tion of  the  building  by  Francis  I.  Still  larger  and  more  magnificent 
was  another  creation  of  Charles  V.,  the  Hotel  Solennel  des  Grands 
Ebattements, — commonly  known,  from  the  adjoining  church,  as  the 
Hotel  de  St.  Paul, — which  was  famed  for  the  rich  decorations  of  its 
halls  with  sculptures,  mural  paintings,  and  stained  glass,  and  for  the 
lavish  furnishings  of  the  chambers  of  the  king  and  queen,  consisting 
of  ornamented  windows,  chimney-pieces,  panellings,  etc.  Unfortu- 
nately the  early  destruction  which  befell  the  buildings  of  Charles  V. 
was  shared  by  most  of  the  palaces  of  the  French  nobles,  such  as 
Pierrefonds  (Pierre-fonts)  near  Compiegne,  Castle  Creil  upon  an  isl- 
and of  the  Oise,  etc.  Most  of  the  extensive  convent  buildings  of 
the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  were  destroyed  during  the 
French  Revolution.  Town -halls  were  rare  in  France  during  the 
Middle  Ages,  even  Paris  possessing  none  before  1357,  in  which  year 


jig  GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

a  dwelling-house  was  adapted  for  the  purpose.  The  civic  edifices  of 
the  North  were  of  somewhat  more  importance  in  artistic  respects, 
though  by  no  means  equalling  those  of  the  Netherlands  and  of  the 
German  Hanseatic  and  imperial  cities. 

During  the  earlier  part  of  the  period  private  dwellings,  with  but 
few  exceptions,  were  built  of  nogging.  After  the  introduction  of 
stone  for  their  construction  they  generally  imitated  the  forms  of  the 


Fig.  322. — The  Louvre  of  the  Time  of  Charles  V.,  according  to  the  Restoration  of 

Viollet-le-Duc. 

fortress -like  palaces.  The  celebrated  house  of  the  citizen  Jacques 
Coeur  at  Bourges,  a  patrician  dwelling  of  exceptional  size,  still  re- 
maining in  an  almost  perfect  state  of  preservation,  is  referable  to 
the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  shows  how  readily  the 
declining  Gothic  style  then  lent  itself  to  the  decoration  of  such 
buildings.  The  former  want  of  unity  in  the  artistic  design, — re- 
sulting from  capricious  innovations  on  the  one  hand,  and  from  ar- 
chaistic  retention  of  primitive  traditions  on  the  other, — was  only  to 


FRANCE.  519 

be  overcome  by  the  neglect  of  the  constructive  principles,  and  the 
employment  of  the  characteristic  forms  of  the  style  as  a  mere  dec- 
oration. 

On  the  whole,  it  may  be  said  that,  both  in  architectural  activity 
and  performance,  France  was  inferior  to  the  neighboring  countries 
during  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries.  While  the  French 
suffered  from  a  reaction  after  the  phenomenal  exertions  of  the  pre- 
vious ages,  other  nations,  having  had  little  part  in  the  establishment 
of  the  style,  took  up  its  extension  with  fresh  vigor.  Having,  more- 
over, already  provided  the  buildings  which  were  most  imperatively 
required,  the  Gallic  race  followed  the  natural  law  of  an  earlier  de- 
cline, leaving  to  others  the  task  of  further  development. 


Fig.  323. — View  of  the  Cathedral  of  Gloucester. 


THE  EXTENSION  OF  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE. 

IN  contrast  to  France,  which,  during  the  development  of  the 
Gothic  style,  had  displayed  an  entirely  independent  creative 
activity,  the  other  nations  of  Europe, — with  exception  of  those  of 
the  Byzantine  East, — remained  dependent  and  receptive.  Some  of 
the  races  of  France  itself  had  but  slowly  and  reluctantly  accepted 
the  new  system  which  had  been  determined  in  the  heart  of  the 
country,  and  it  is  not  surprising  that  foreigners  were  even  less  in- 
clined to  an  immediate  and  unconditional  adoption.  The  extension 
of  the  Gothic  was  rendered  more  difficult  by  the  national  character 
which  the  Romanic  style  had  assumed  in  the  districts  bordering 
France,  and  by  the  great  dissimilarity  of  the  native  civilizations. 
Even  when  these  hinderances  were  overcome  and  the  new  system 
fully  introduced,  the  original  differences  could  not  fail  to  impress 
distinctive  peculiarities  upon  the.  architecture  of  the  different  coun- 


ENGLAND.  521 

tries.  These  peculiarities,  it  is  true,  were  not  so  great  as  those  which 
had  obtained  during  the  Romanic  epoch,  at  least  between  the 
Rhenish  countries  and  the  Provence ;  but  they  were  sufficiently 
prominent  to  clearly  distinguish  the  Gothic  styles  of  England,  Ger- 
many, and  Italy  from  that  of  France. 

ENGLAND. 

England*  having,  for  a  century  previous,  been  dependent  in 
artistic  as  well  as  in  political  respects  upon  one  of  the  provinces  of 
France,  was  naturally  the  first  to  adopt  the  new  style.  The  rela- 
tions to  Normandy,  so  decisive  in  architectural  respects  during  the 
ages  succeeding  William  the  Conqueror,  were,  however,  at  this  pe- 
riod somewhat  less  intimate.  Normandy  itself,  immediately  adjoin- 
ing the  districts  in  which  the  Gothic  had  first  made  its  appearance, 
and  afterwards  altogether  united  with  the  He  de  France,  adopted 
the  style  more  unconditionally  than  was  possible  beyond  the  Eng- 
lish Channel,  where  at  this  period  the  Norman  and  Anglo-Saxon 
elements  were  being  blended  into  a  national  unity. 

During  the  twelfth  century  only  slight  and  isolated  traces  of 
the  new  architectural  system  appeared  in  England.  The  first  pointed 
arches,  limited  to  the  arcades  connecting  ranges  of  columns,  were 
those  of  the  Cistercian  churches  of  Kirkstall,  Buildwas,  Fountains, 
Furnep,  and  Byland,  referable  to  the  second  half  of  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury. It  may  hence  be  assumed  that  the  elements  of  the  Gothic 
style  had  been  introduced  into  England  by  those  monks  of  Citeaux 
who  left  their  native  country  about  the  year  1150.  Still,  it  is  to  be 
borne  in  mind  that  the  isolated  appearance  of  pointed  forms  is  not 
in  itself  sufficient  indication  of  a  Gothic  design,  since  these  are  to 
be  recognized  at  Autun  and  Vezelay  in  Burgundy,  long  before  the 
actual  establishment  of  the  new  style.  Moreover,  it  is  evident  from 
the  appearance  of  pointed  arches  in  the  Church  of  the  Benedictines 

*  J.  Britton,  Cathedral  Antiquities  of  Great  Britain.  London,  1835. — The  Same,  Ar- 
chitectural Antiquities  of  Great  Britain.  London,  1835. — E.  Sharpe,  Architectural  Paral- 
lels, or  Views  of  the  Principal  Abbey  Churches  in  England.  London,  without  date. — 
B.  Winkles  and  Th.  Moule,  Architectural  and  Picturesque  Illustrations  of  the  Cathedral 
Churches  of  England  and  Wales.  London,  without  date. —  Hall,  The  Baronial  Halls  of 
England.  London,  1858. 


522 


THE   EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 


at  Malmsbury,  in  that  of  the  Augustines  at  Cartmel,  and  in  the  por- 
tico of  the  Cathedral  of  Ely,  that  the  determining  influences  were 
not  exclusively  derived  from  Burgundian  Citeaux.  This  is  corrobo- 
rated by  the  Church  of  the  French  Knights  of  St.  John  in  London. 
The  older  parts  of  this  concentric  structure,  consecrated  in  1185, 
show  further  indications  of  the  new  style,  notably  in  the  ribbed 
vaults  and  in  the  clustered  columns. 

The  only  English  building  of  the  twelfth  century  which  is  known 
with  certainty  to  have  been  designed  by  an  architect  of  Northern 
France,  well  acquainted  with  the  chief  features  of  the  Gothic  style, 
did  not  display  any  advance  beyond  the  transitional  forms.  The 
reconstruction  of  the  choir  of  the  Cathedral  of  Canterbury,  which 
had  been  destroyed  by  fire  in  1174,  was  intrusted  to  William  of 


Fig.  324. — Plan  of  the  Cathedral  of  Canterbury. 

Sens,  whose  architectural  skill   had  without  doubt   been   brought 

o 

to  the  notice  of  the  canons  of  Canterbury  through  Archbishop 
Thomas  a  Becket,  who  had  taken  refuge  in  Sens  shortly  before  his 
assassination  in  1170.  The  Choir  of  Canterbury  (Fig.  324),  built  be- 
tween 1175  and  1185,  shows  distinct  reminiscences  of  the  Cathedral 
of  Sens  (Fig.  299).  The  architect  was  obliged,  however,  by  the  ex- 
istence of  two  earlier  towers,  to  deviate  from  his  model  by  dimin- 
ishing the  width  of  the  chancel,— a  considerable  and  by  no  means 
advantageous  change.  From  the  details  of  the  elevation  it  is  plain 
that  the  foreign  designer  did  not  long  retain  his  functions  of  super- 
intendent, the  work  being  carried  on  by  native  masons,  who  be- 
trayed in  various  ways  their  training  in  the  earlier  style. 

Modest  attempts  to  transform  the  Norman  system  were  made, 


ENGLAND. 


523 


early  in  the  thirteenth  century,  in  the  choir  of  the  Cathedral  of 
Winchester,  begun  in  1202,  and  in  the  nave  of  the  Abbey  Church  of 
St.  Albans.  In  the  choirs  of  the  cathedrals  of  Lincoln  and  Worces- 
ter clustered  columns,  pointed  arched  arcades,  and  narrow  pointed 
windows,  became  more  prominent,  and  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
Cathedral  of  Salisbury,  built  between  1220  and  1258,  the  style 
known  as  the  early  English  Gothic  appears  fully  developed.  The 
last -mentioned  cathedral  (Fig.  ^2^\  afterwards  completed  in  the 
same  style,  is  the  most  important  of  the  structures  of  this  class  ref- 
erable to  the  second  half  of  the  thirteenth  century,  among  which 
are  the  Minster  of  Beverley,  the  choir  of  the  Collegiate  Church  of 


».    .*. — .*..  A   .•;..  ..» — f.  ,K  .*.   .*..  .«. 
''' ' 


325.  —  Plan  of  the  Cathedral  of  Salisburj'. 


Southwell,  the  fagade  of  the  Cathedral  of  Wells,  the  transepts  of 
the  Cathedral  of  York,  and  portions  of  other  buildings  begun  at  an 
earlier  period.  This  phase  of  development  had  been  brought  about 
through  the  influence  of  the  French  designer  of  the  choir  of  Canter- 
bury. Westminster  Abbey  in  London*,  the  last  of  the  buildings  be- 
longing to  this  group,  and  the  most  magnificent  edifice  of  England 
dating  to  the  second  half  of  the  thirteenth  century,  was  also  con- 
structed under  French  superintendence.  Hence  this  church  must 
be  omitted  in  defining  the  character  of  the  early  English  style. 

In  the  arrangement  of  the  plan  the  native  designers,  perhaps 
encouraged    by  the  example   of  the  before  -  mentioned    Cistercian 


524  THE   EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

churches,  returned  to  the  straight -lined  termination  of  the  choir, 
which  the  later  English  architects  and  those  called  from  abroad, 
like  Guillaume  de  Sens,  had  endeavored  to  conform  to  French 
models.  Furthermore,  the  proportion  of  the  length  was  greatly 
increased  by  making  the  chancel  of  the  cruciform  building  quite 
as  long  as  its  nave,  while  considerably  restricting  the  width  of 
both.  The  choir  was  never  five-aisled  as  in  France,  and  the  intro- 
duction of  radial  chapels  was  rendered  impossible  by  the  rectilin- 
ear termination.  On  the  other  hand,  a  second  transept  was  added 
to  the  chancel,  and  a  rectangular  Chapel  of  the  Virgin  to  the  end 
wall.  The  entire  length  of  the  structure  thus  became  excessive,  the 
Cathedral  of  Salisbury  (Fig.  325),  for  instance,  being  over  140  m. 
long,  while  the  three-aisled  body  of  the  church  is  but  23  m.  broad. 
The  transepts  were  generally  two-aisled,  a  lateral  passage  only  ap- 
pearing upon  the  eastern  side ;  this  one-sided  arrangement  sufficed 
to  provide  the  spaces  for  altars,  and  was  at  least  not  visible  to  those 
who  entered  the  building  from  the  western  front. 

The  supports  were  occasionally  composed  of  several  members : 
a  somewhat  heavier  column  surrounded  by  four  slender  monolithic 
shafts,  which  were  attached  to  it  only  by  the  bases  and  capitals. 
In  some  cases  these  shafts  were  engaged  to  the  kernel,  in  which 
arrangement  four  three-quarter  columns  alternate  with  as  many 
shafts  of  smaller  size  situated  between  them.  A  plane  fillet,  cor- 
responding to  the  surface  of  the  junction  at  the  back,  was  added 
also  to  the  front  of  the  three-quarter  columns,  which  thus  became 
of  a  pear-shaped  section,  similar  to  that  of  the  vaulting  ribs.  Occa- 
sionally the  kernel  was  omitted  altogether,  and  the  support  appears 
merely  as  a  combination  of  four  columns.  The  bases  are  broad,  and 
the  capitals,  resembling  the  Corinthian  in  general  design,  are  pro- 
vided with  low  and  projecting  abaci  of  rounded  profile.  The  calyx 
is  seldom  ornamented ;  in  those  cases  where  foliage  is  applied  to  it 
the  leaves  are  not  treated  in  a  realistic  manner,  like  those  of  France, 
but  are  stiffly  conventionalized,  the  tips  being  generally  curled. 
The  engaged  columns  were  not  continued  as  boltels  to  the  impost 
of  the  main  vault,  the  pier  consisting  of  a  group  of  members  of 
equal  height,  connected  only  with  the  mouldings  of  the  arches,  the 
scotias  of  which  were  at  times  decorated  with  star-shaped  flowers. 


ENGLAND. 


525 


It  was  thus  impossible  to  attain  that  organic  unity  of  the  construct- 
ive framework  which  is  so  remarkable  in  the  Romanic  cathedrals  of 
the  Rhenish  countries,  dating  to  the  twelfth  century,  and  in  the 
Gothic  buildings  of  France  and  Germany. 

The  triforium  consisted  of  a  range  of  narrow  arcades,  at  times 
combined  into  groups  by  relieving  arches  (Figs.  326  and  327).  It  was 
elaborately  ornamented,  and  often  presented  characteristic  features, 


Fig.  326. — System  of  the  Choir  of  the 
Cathedral  of  Canterbuiy. 


Fig.  327. — System  of  the  Nave  of 
the  Cathedral  of  Salisbury. 


the  trefoil  arch  being  adopted,  or  the  intersecting  arches  of  the  Nor- 
man style  being  resolved  into  two  arcades  on  different  planes.  The 
clerestory  wall  was  generally  opened  by  three  pointed  windows,  that 
in  the  middle  being  of  greater  height.  Traceries  first  appear  in 
Westminster  Abbey,  where  the  French  arrangement  'of  the  windows 
was  imitated.  The  tracery  was  almost  exclusively  restricted,  even 
at  a  later  date,  to  the  end  walls  of  the  choir  and  transepts  and  to 


526  THE   EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

the  western  fa$ade,  in  which  latter  fivefold  pointed  windows,  occa- 
sionally in  two  stories,  had  previously  existed.  At  the  close  of  the 
period,  mullions  were  introduced  in  all  the  windows,  generally  of 
forms  entirely  different  from  those  of  France.  A  decided  prefer- 
ence was  shown  for  intersecting  arches,  such  as  had  been  so  prom- 
inent in  the  architecture  of  the  Normans.  Intricate  traceries  were 
thus  developed  at  an  earlier  period  even  than  in  France,  and  these 
naturally  led  to  an  exchange  of  the  columnar  supports  for  a  system 
of  upright  mouldings  similar  in  section  to  those  with  which  they 
were  connected. 

The  ribs  of  the  vault  were  supported  upon  consoles,  or  upon 
short  vaulting -posts:  these  latter  not  resting  upon  the  piers,  but 
ending  in  the  spandrels  of  the  arches,  or  between  the  openings  of 
the  triforium,  and  being  themselves  supported  upon  brackets.  The 
reticulate  and  stellar  forms  of  vaulting,  like  the  intricacies  of  window 
tracery,  were  employed  in  England  even  before  they  became  cus- 
tomary in  France.  The  first  innovation  which  seriously  affected 
the  continental  system  of  vaulting  was  the  introduction  of  a  rib  in 
the  longitudinal  axis.  The  horizontal  crown  thus  resulting  ren- 
dered the  construction  entirely  unlike  the  cupola-like  compartments 
of  the  French  arrangement,  and  caused  the  cross-vaults  to  resem- 
ble a  barrel  with  lunettes.  The  subsequent  multiplications  of  the 
side-ribs  in  the  chapter-houses  of  polygonal  plan  led  to  the  forma- 
tion of  the  stellar-vault.  This  form,  being  more  in  harmony  with 
the  decorative  and  fantastic  tendencies  of  the  English  Gothic  than 
with  the  monumental  and  constructive  character  of  that  of  France, 
was  more  generally  adopted  in  the  former  country  than  in  the  latter. 
The  lack  of  regular  organism,  and  the  want  of  perfect  agreement 
between  the  constructive  framework  and  the  main  lines  of  the  dec- 
oration, resulting  from  this  arrangement,  were  not  held  of  sufficient 
weight  to  interfere  with  its  adoption.  The  effect  of  the  radial  ribs 
was  heightened  by  the  vault  being  much  nearer  the  eye  than  was 
the  case  on  the  Continent.  The  nave  was  always  low,  the  24  m.  of 
the  summit  of  the  vault  in  the  Cathedral  of  Salisbury  being  only 
exceeded  by  the  27  m.  of  the  Cathedral  of  York  and  by  the  30  m. 
of  Westminster  Abbey. 

Striking  as  the  differences  thus  are  between  the  early  Gothic 


ENGLAND. 


527 


cathedrals  of  France  and  England  in  the  interior,  they  are  still  more 
apparent  upon  the  exterior.  The  narrowness  and  lowness  of  the 
aisles  are  especially  noticeable  in  the  latter  country,  this  effect  being 
increased  by  the  small  and  comparatively  flat  surfaces  of  the  roof, — 
often  entirely  hidden  by  battlements  which  give  a  fortress-like  char- 
acter to  the  entire  building.  The  buttresses  were  slight,  seldom 


Fig.  328. — Western  Fa9ade  of  the  Cathedral  of  Salisbury. 

rising  above  the  side  aisles,  and  the  flying  buttresses,  when  em- 
ployed at  all,  were  as  simple  as  possible.  Thus  the  horizontal  mem- 
berment  of  the  structure  was  greatly  emphasized.  The  most  strik- 
ing deviation  from  the  French  models  is  evident  in  the  fa9ades, — 
instance  that  of  the  Cathedral  of  Salisbury  (Fig.  328).  The  low  and 
insignificant  portals  appear  to  have  been  designed  merely  to  meet 
the  practical  requirements,  without  reference  to  the  entire  front. 


528  THE   EXTENSION    OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

They  are  not  rendered  of  importance  in  the  composition,  even  in 
those  cases  when  they  are  preceded  by  a  portico  —  the  so-called 
Galilaea.  The  enormous  wall  which  rises  above  them  entirely  hides 
the  roofs  of  the  side  aisles,  and  is  even  extended  to  the  summit  of 
the  nave,  which  only  in  exceptional  cases  is  treated  as  a  gable. 
This  facade  is  flanked  by  weak  towers,  which  project  beyond  the 
width  of  the  entire  church,  but  scarcely  rise  above  the  front  wall. 
The  imposing  effect  of  the  facade  towers  of  the  Continent  is  thus 
but  rarely  attained.  On  the  other  hand,  the  heavy  fortress  -  like 
tower  erected  above  the  intersection  of  transept  and  nave,  of  square 
plan  and  terminated  by  a  horizontal  cornice,  is  the  more  empha- 
sized, being  rendered  of  the  greatest  importance  in  the  design  by 
the  excessive  length  of  the  building.  Upon  it  depends,  in  effective 
concentration,  the  monumental  dignity  of  the  edifice, — this  charac- 
ter being  attained  neither  by  the  fagade  nor  by  the  choir. 

While  the  Gothic  style  in  France  required  but  fifty  years  for  its 
full  development,  the  early  English  was  retained,  with  but  slight 
alterations,  for  more  than  a  century.  England  thus  did  not  adopt 
the  perfected  Gothic  until  early  in  the  fourteenth  century,  a  period 
which  in  France  marked  the  beginning  of  the  debasement.  Cir- 
cumstances had  not  been  more  favorable  for  architecture  on  the 
north  than  on  the  south  of  the  Channel.  The  war  with  the  French, 
although  carried  on  entirely  upon  the  Continent,  had  drained  the 
resources  of  the  island,  and  was,  moreover,  of  unfavorable  issue  to 
England.  On  the  other  hand,  the  national  unity  was  increased  by 
this  war,  which  did  much  to  assimilate  the  Norman  and  Anglo- 
Saxon  elements.  The  social  amelioration  thus  brought  about  was 
so  great  that,  notwithstanding  the  losses  which  had  been  entailed 
upon  the  country,  sufficient  energy  and  material  means  were  still 
forthcoming  to  sustain  an  architectural  activity  of  considerable  im- 
portance. The  ornamentation  was  so  lavish  in  the  English  Gothic, 
between  1300  and  1380,  that  the  style  of  this  period  fully  deserves 
the  name  Decorated  which  is  commonly  applied  to  it. 

Most  important  among  the  works  of  this  class  is  the  Cathedral 
of  Exeter,  begun  early  in  the  century  and  completed  in  1370.  Con- 
temporary with  this  is  the  greater  part  of  the  Cathedral  of  Lichfield 
(Fig.  329),  the  construction  of  which  was  continued  even  into  the 


ENGLAND. 


529 


fifteenth  century.  The  western  half  of  York  Minster  is  also  of  the 
decorated  style  ;  its  eastern  side  was  built  a  hundred  years  later,  and 
the  transept  is  early  English.  The  most  elaborate  ornamentation  is 
observable  in  the  central  portion  of  the  Cathedral  of  Ely  (Fig.  330), 
built  after  1322,  otherwise  of  the  Norman  style ;  and  in  the  choir  of 
the  Cathedral  of  Wells,  referable  to  the  second  half  of  the  four- 
teenth century.  Many  older  structures  were  completed  or  restored 


Fig.  329. — System  of  the  Choir  of 
the  Cathedral  of  Lichfield. 


Fig.  330. — System  of  the  Choir 
of  the  Cathedral  of  Ely. 


during  this  period,  which  was  productive  of  a  great  number  of  chap- 
els, chapter-houses,  etc. 

In  the  Decorated  style  the  plan  retained  its  excessive  length, 
the  straight-lined  termination  of  the  choir,  the  one-sided  transept, 
the  massive  tower  above  the  intersection  of  transept  and  nave,  and 
the  screen-like  fagade  wall, — in  short,  all  the  most  prominent  feat- 
ures which  have  been  noticed  in  the  early  English.  But  the  organ- 

34 


530  THE   EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

ism  received  a  new  life,  the  harshness  of  the  contrasts  was  mitigated, 
the  construction  and  the  ornamentation  being  blended  to  a  more 
perfect  harmony.  An  important  improvement  is  noticeable  in  the 
treatment  of  the  windows,  the  greater  elaboration  of  which  had 
been  commenced  in  the  preceding  period.  The  simple  grouping  of 
lancet-shaped  windows  was  discontinued,  and  broad  openings  with 
equilateral  or  even  surbased  arches,  provided  with  mullions,  took 
their  place.  The  geometrical  lines  of  the  tracery,  derived  from  the 
French,  were  soon  given  up  in  favor  of  intricate  and  varied,  at  times 
even  whimsical,  forms.  Gentle  curves,  with  many  cusps  and  trefoils, 
were  employed  by  preference,  much  attention  being  devoted  to  an 
arrangement  whereby  the  glazed  apertures  were  approximately 
equal  in  size.  This  resulted,  especially  in  the  large  windows  of  the 
end  walls,  in  great  unity  of  design  and  magnificence  of  general  ef- 
fect. The  engaged  shafts  of  the  jambs  were  soon  exchanged  for 
mouldings  of  the  same  profile  as  the  tracery.  The  Flowing  style,  of 
which  all  these  features  are  characteristic,  seems  to  have  been  devel- 
oped at  an  earlier  period  than  either  the  French  Flamboyant  or  the 
German  Fischblase. 

The  successful  effect  of  the  tracery  led  to  the  employment  of  its 
forms  for  triforiums  and  balustrades,  as  well  as,  in  relief,  for  wall 
surfaces,  so  that  the  entire  ornamentation  of  the  edifice  became  di- 
rectly dependent  upon  it.  The  pointed  arches  themselves  were 
occasionally  made  of  curves  of  contrary  flexure,  and  even  the  ribs 
of  the  vault  became  similar  to  tracery.  The  more  the  entire  struct- 
ure was  overgrown  with  this  decoration,  perforated  or  in  relief,  the 
more  the  constructive  framework  was  simplified,  until  at  last  the 
artistic  importance  and  effect  depended  solely  upon  the  ornamental 
details. 

Such  excess  could  naturally  be  of  but  short  duration.  The  gen- 
tle curves  of  the  Flowing  style  were  little  in  harmony  with  the 
English  character,  and  the  contrast  which  they  presented  to  the 
stiff  forms  of  the  Norman  and  early  English  was  most  painfully 
felt  in  those  cases  where  the  work  of  the  fourteenth  century  was 
placed  in  juxtaposition  to  that  of  an  earlier  period,  as,  for  instance, 
in  the  Cathedral  of  Ely.  The  change  from  comparative  perfection 
to  absolute  debasement  was  so  immediate  that  a  reaction  was  inev- 


ENGLAND.  531 

itable.  This  reform  was  directed,  however,  less  against  the  elabora- 
tion of  the  tracery  than  against  the  sensual  elements  of  the  design, 
and,  in  particular,  the  weak  degeneration  of  the  forms. 

This  reaction  became  evident,  towards  the  close  of  the  four- 
teenth century,  in  the  development  of  the  so-called  Perpendicular 
style,  in  which  the  English  Gothic  returned  to  the  rectilinear  char- 
acter of  the  constructive  members  and  ornaments.  This  system  of 
design  corresponded  well  with  the  natural  traits  of  the  Britons,  as 
is  plainly  seen  in  the  plans  and  elevations,  not  only  of  the  early 
English  and  Norman,  but  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  buildings.  Even  as 
early  as  1360  boltels  began  to  grow  through  the  tangled  mass  of  the 
tracery,  in  the  same  way  as  the  curved  decorations  had  previously 
been  applied  upon  the  straight-lined  mouldings.  Perpendicularism 
did  not,  however,  become  the  leading  principle  until  the  age  of 
Bishop  William  of  Wykeham,  who  directly  furthered  the  erection 
of  a  large  number  of  buildings.  The  restoration  of  the  Cathedral 
of  Winchester  (Fig.  331),  undertaken  under  his  supervision  in  1393, 
gives  a  fixed  date  for  the  commencement  of  the  Perpendicular 
style,  which  agreed  so  well  with  English  ideas  that  it  was  em- 
ployed almost  exclusively  until  the  close  of  the  Gothic  period,  late 
in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  has  even  become  typical  of  the  Eng- 
lish Gothic  designs  of  the  present  age. 

Still,  the  horizontal  lines  continued  almost  as  important  in  the 
composition  as  the  vertical.  The  effect  of  the  triforium  galleries 
and  the  window-sills  was  emphasized  by  the  introduction  of  hori- 
zontal bands  connecting  the  slender  mullions,  so  that  the  predomi- 
nance of  the  uprights  was  greatly  diminished ;  instance  the  choir 
of  the  Cathedral  of  Gloucester  (Figs.  323  and  332).  In  the  win- 
dows, on  the  other  hand,  the  jambs  were  not  only  continued  verti- 
cally to  the  soffit  of  the  main  arches,  but  the  perpendicular  members 
were  increased  by  the  introduction  of  super-mullions,  rising  from  the 
summits  of  the  smaller  arches  of  the  lower  tracery.  To  the  frame- 
work thus  resulting  further  cusps  were  added,  so  that  the  entire 
window  was  formed  by  a  combination  of  vertical  trefoil  arches. 
The  rectilinear  tendencies  of  the  design  led  to  the  adoption  of  a 
new  form  of  the  arch,  both  for  the  window  openings  and  for  the 
arcades :  the  arcs  being  stiffened  to  straight  lines,  with  an  angular 


532 


THE   EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 


apex.  Furthermore,  the  ribs  of  the  vault,  which  had  already  been 
assimilated  in  character  to  the  tracery,  were  treated  as  straight  and 
radial  bars,  connected,  like  the  mullions,  with  trefoil  cusps,  and 
usually  made  to  intersect  with  the  crown  rib  in  an  entirely  inor- 
ganic fashion. 

This  system  of  design,  however  conformable  to  the  British  char- 
acter and  taste,  was  certainly  not   favorable  to   the  artistic  effect 


Fig.  331. — System  of  the  Nave  of 
the  Cathedral  of  Winchester. 


Fig.  332. — System  of  the  Choir  of 
the  Cathedral  of  Gloucester. 


of  cathedral  buildings.  Its  best  results  were  produced  in  smaller 
structures,  such  as  the  chapels  of  the  Virgin,  palace  oratories,  and 
secular  halls  in  colleges  and  castles.  Even  in  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury the  chapter-houses  had  become  of  importance.  Such  polyg- 
onal chambers  as  those  of  Lichfield,  Salisbury,  York,  Lincoln, 
Westminster,  and  Wells  are  of  a  direct  historical  interest,  inasmuch 
as  they  led  to  the  development  of  the  stellar  vault.  In  the  Chap- 


ENGLAND.  533 

ter- house  of  York  the  vaulting  ribs  had  been  filled  in  with  boards 
instead  of  with  masonry,  and  the  construction  of  the  ceiling  in  wood 
became  more  and  more  general,  even  in  important  edifices;  witness 
the  octagon  of  the  Cathedral  of  Ely  and  the  nave  of  the  Cathedral 
of  York.  The  extremely  elaborate  vaults  of  the  decorated  and  per- 
pendicular styles,  such  as  those  of  the  Lady  chapels  of  many  cathe- 
drals and  of  the  cloister  of  Gloucester,  were  of  a  pleasing  effect.  An 
even  greater  importance  is  to  be  attached  to  the  timbered  construc- 
tions of  Wykeham's  chapter-houses  and  chapels  at  Winchester  and 
Oxford,  and  especially  to  the  most  rational  roofs  and  ceilings  of 
Westminster,  and  of  other  halls  of  English  palaces.  Without  de- 
manding an  increased  thickness  of  the  walls,  these  roofs  attained  a 
lightness  and  elegance  denied  to  the  best  systems  of  vaulting,  being, 
moreover,  capable  of  a  fine  decorative  elaboration  in  carving  and 
color.  Open  timbered  roofs  of  this  kind  have  consequently  contin- 
ued in  use  until  the  present  day,  and  indeed  the  English  Gothic, 
because  of  the  just  relations  of  the  horizontal  to  the  vertical  mem- 
berment,  is  particularly  well  adapted  for  imitation  in  the  secular 
architecture  of  modern  times. 

Ireland  and  Scotland  were,  in  artistic  respects,  decidedly  inferior 
to  England.  The  first  country  had  neither  important  buildings  nor 
any  architectural  peculiarity ;  the  second  was  entirely  dependent 
upon  the  development  of  England.  From  the  oldest  Gothic  build- 
ings of  Scotland — the  Cathedral  of  Elgin,  founded  in  1223,  and  that 
of  Glasgow,  begun  in  1240 — down  to  the  Abbey  Church  of  Melrose, 
dating  to  the  first  half  of  the  fifteenth  century,  there  are  but  few 
deviations  from  the  English  types.  It  is  only  to  be  remarked  that 
the  Norman  round  arch  was  occasionally  employed  at  a  compara- 
tively late  date,  that  the  stiff  perpendicular  style  was  but  rarely 
adopted,  and  that,  in  the  lavish  decorations  of  the  period  of  deca- 
dence, the  relations  of  Scotland  to  France  led  t6  a  predominance  of 
Flamboyant  over  Flowing  details.  Such  fantastic  creations  as  the 
absolutely  unsymmetrical  Mortuary  Chapel  of  Rosslyn,  built  be- 
tween 1446  and  1480,  would  have  been  impossible  in  England. 


534  THE   EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

GERMANY. 

The  Gothic  style  was  not  introduced  into  Germany*  as  early, 
or  as  completely,  as  into  England.  The  reason  of  this  is  evident. 
England  had  no  architectural  traditions  of  its  own  to  which  it  could 
cling,  and  after  having  received  the  Romanic  style  from  beyond  the 
Channel,  it  was  but  natural  that  it  should  give  itself  up  without  re- 
serve to  the  influence  of  Northern  France.  Germany,  on  the  other 
hand,  possessed  an  indigenous  style  of  great  perfection,  and  was 
hence  reluctant  to  relinquish  its  own  artistic  methods  in  favor  of 
those  of  another  country.  The  earlier  types  were  retained  with 
great  tenacity.  Even  at  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century 
buildings  of  the  Romanic  style  were  erected  not  only  in  remote  and 
provincial  districts,  but  even  in  the  larger  Rhenish  towns.  Instance 
the  reconstruction  of  the  Church  of  St.  Castor  at  Coblentz,  conse- 
crated in  1208,  and  the  transept  of  the  Convent  Church  at  Sayn, 
built  after  1202.  The  native  traditions  were  but  slowly  and  un- 
willingly abandoned. 

In  the  most  advanced  provinces,  however,  the  intelligence  of  the 
builders  had,  during  the  Romanic  period,  been  too  fully  awakened 
to  permit  them  to  ignore  the  constructive  and  decorative  advan- 
tages of  the  Gothic  system.  The  noble  works  of  the  French  could 
not  remain  unknown ;  it  was  generally  admitted  that  the  civiliza- 
tion of  the  neighboring  country  was  superior,  in  social  as  well  as 
in  political  respects.  The  higher  powers,  both  spiritual  and  tem- 
poral, saw  plainly  that  it  was  necessary  to  model  not  only  the  ec- 
clesiastical and  secular  institutions,  but  also  the  art  and  poetry  of 
Germany,  upon  those  of  France. 

*  G.  Moller,  Denkmaler  der  deutschen  Baukunst.  Darmstadt,  1820. — G.  G.  Kallen- 
bach,  Chronologic  der  deutsch-mittelalterlichen  Baukunst.  Miinchen  (1849). — G.  Unge- 
witter,  Lehrbuch  der  gothischen  Constructionen.  Leipzig,  1859.  II.  Auflage,  1875. — • 
L.  Puttrich,  Denkmale  der  Baukunst  des  Mittelalters  in  Sachsen.  Leipzig,  1836-1850. — • 
C.  W.  Hase,  F.  Ewerbeck,  O.  Tenge  u.  A.,  Die  mittelalterlichen  Baudenkmaler  Nieder- 
sachsens.  Hannover,  1856-1883. — L.  Hoffmann  u.  H.  v.  Dehn-Rotfelser,  Mittelalterliche 
Baudenkmaler  in  Kurhessen.  Cassel,  1856,  etc. — W.  Liibke,  Die  mittelalterliche  Kunst  in 
Westphalen.  Leipzig,  1853. — F.  Adler,  Mittelalterliche  Backstein-Bauwerke  des  preus- 
sischen  Staates.  Berlin,  1862. — R.  Redtenbacher,  Leitfaden  zum  Studium  der  mittelalter- 
lichen Baukunst.  Leipzig,  1881. 


GERMANY.  535 

Still,  greatly  as  the  Germans  desired  to  improve  their  architect- 
ural system  by  the  adoption  of  new  details  from  abroad,  their  na- 
tional feeling  was  too  strong  for  them  to  make  such  a  striking 
demonstration  of  the  force  of  French  influence  as  the  immediate 
and  entire  acceptance  of  the  Gothic  style  would  have  been.  No 
other  nation  was  so  slow  in  introducing  the  methods  of  design  de- 
termined in  the  He  de  France.  Almost  a  century  elapsed  after  the 
building  of  the  choir  of  St.  Denis  before  the  first  truly  Gothic 
structure  was  erected  in  Germany.  Various  compromises,  however, 
began  to  be  made  towards  the  close  of  the  twelfth  century,  so  that 
a  transitional  period  of  over  fifty  years  is  to  be  distinguished  in 
Germany,  —  wholly  without  a  parallel  in  France  or  in  England, 
where  the  change  was  effected  within  a  single  decade.  So  elabo- 
rate, so  varied,  and,  above  all,  so  rational,  are  the  features  charac- 
teristic of  this  period  that  the  customary  designation,  Transitional 
Style,  is  fully  justifiable,  provided  it  be  taken  into  consideration 
that  we  have  here  to  deal  with  a  phase  of  the  development  of 
German  architecture  alone,  intervening  between  the  Romanic  and 
Gothic,  and  not  with  any  consistent  and  universal  transition  be- 
tween the  two  great  styles. 

The  isolated  introduction  of  Gothic  elements  is  noticeable  at 
times  in  the  constructive  framework,  at  times  in  the  decorative 
treatment.  The  Golden  Portal  of  Freiberg  in  the  Erzgebirge,  which 
is  probably  to  be  ascribed  to  the  close  of  the  twelfth  century,  dis- 
plays, as  well  in  its  architectural  as  in  its  sculptural  decoration, 
an  acquaintance  with  the  portals  of  the  early  Gothic  style  of 
France.  Similarly,  Gothic  capitals,  mouldings,  vaulting  ribs,  etc., 
are  employed,  together  with  a  constructive  framework  of  the  Ro- 
manic style.  Innovations  of  greater  importance  were  the  adoption 
of  the  Gothic  system  of  buttresses,  and  of  pointed  forms  for  ar- 
cades and  vaults, — although  these  did  not  at  first  adhere  strictly 
to  the  French  models.  Examples  are  the  Church  of  St.  Peter  at 
Goerlitz,  built  between  1173  and  1194,  with  slightly  pointed  arcades, 
and  the  Cathedral  of  Brunswick,  founded  by  Henry  the  Lion  and 
consecrated  in  1 194.  With  the  Romanic  piers,  walls,  and  windows 
of  the  latter  is  combined  a  pointed  vault,  not  constructed  accord- 
ing to  the  principles  of  French  Gothic,  but  as  a  barrel-vault  without 


536  THE   EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

ribs  and  with  lunettes.  The  case  is  similar  with  several  churches 
of  Brunswick  and  its  vicinity,  the  designs  of  which  were  influenced 
by  that  of  the  Cathedral.  The  peculiarities  of  all  these  buildings 
seem  due  rather  to  Burgundian  influences  than  to  any  direct  imi- 
tation of  the  Gothic  style  of  the  He  de  France. 

Circumstances  were  more  favorable  for  the  adoption  of  the 
Gothic  elements  in  the  Rhenish  countries  than  in  Saxony.  In  the 
former  the  preference  for  a  polygonal  termination  of  the  choir  had 
early  led  to  the  introduction  of  ribs  in  the  vaults  of  the  apse,  and, 
in  connection  with  this,  to  the  employment  of  buttresses.  The 
Cathedral  of  Treves,  with  its  polygonal  choir  strengthened  by 
abutments,  dates  from  the  years  between  1152  and  1 169,  although 
the  vaults  were  not  executed  before  the  two  decades  preceding 
12 12.  Even  before  the  close  of  the  twelfth  century  the  pointed 
arch  appeared  in  the  nave  of  the  same  building,  as  well  as  in  sev- 
eral city  gates  of  Cologne,  in  the  reconstruction  of  the  Cathedral 
of  Mayence  after  the  fire  of  1191,  and,  combined  with  buttresses,  in 
the  churches  of  the  Cistercians  erected  after  1190;  the  Nunnery  of 
St.  Thomas  on  the  Kyll,  and  the  Monastery  of  Heisterbach  in  the 
Siebengebiege.  To  this  class  belong  also  a  number  of  older  build- 
ings in  the  transitional  style,  notably  the  Convent  of  the  Cistercians 
at  Otterberg  in  the  Palatinate,  the  churches  of  Gelnhausen  and 
Seligenstadt,  and  the  Collegiate  Church  at  Aschaffenburg, — all  in 
the  diocese  of  Mayence.  Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the 
Church  of  St.  Fides  at  Schlettstadt  on  the  Upper  Rhine,  with  its 
pointed  arcades,  built  as  early  as  the  twelfth  century. 

Gothic  elements  occur  more  frequently  after  the  beginning  of 
the  fourteenth  century.  They  appear,  in  greater  or  less  degree,  in 
the  parish  churches  at  Andernach,  Boppard,  Bacharach,  and  Sinzig ; 
more  decidedly  in  the  transept  of  the  Minster  of  Bonn,  and  in  the 
Church  of  St.  Quirinus  at  Neuss,  begun  in  1209.  The  latter  build- 
ing, together  with  a  prevalence  of  pointed  arches  in  the  arcades  and 
galleries,  has  round-arched  vaults  and  peculiar  fan-shaped  windows. 
A  similar  combination  of  round  and  pointed  forms  appears  in  the 
nave  of  the  Church  of  the  Apostles,  completed  in  1219,  in  that  of 
the  contemporary  Church  of  Great  St.  Martin,  and  in  the  Church 
of  St.  Cunibert,  built  between  1200  and  1247,  —  all  at  Cologne. 


GERMANY. 


537 


Pointed  windows  are  observable  in  the  western  part  of  the  last- 
named  building.  The  greatest  advance  is  displayed  by  an  edifice 
of  the  Upper  Rhine — the  Church  of  Sts.  Peter  and  Paul  at  Neu- 
weiler  in  Alsace — the  nave  of  which  might  almost  be  termed  early 
Gothic. 

Thus  a  compromise  was  gradually  effected  by  which  the  chief 
difficulties  in  the  Romanic  construction  were  avoided,  and,  in  con- 
formity with  the  taste  of  the  period,  the  Gothic  innovations  were 
adopted.  This  compromise  is  best  exemplified  in  three  buildings 


Fig.  333.— Plan  of  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Bamberg. 


Fig.  334. — System  of  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Bamberg. 


of  Middle  Germany,  dating  from  the  first  half  of  the  thirteenth 
century:  the  reconstruction  of  the  Cathedral  of  Bamberg  (Figs.  333 
and  334),  which,  with  exception  of  the  later  western  part,  was  ready 
for  consecration  in  1237;  the  nave  of  the  Collegiate  Church  of 
Fritzlar  in  Hesse  (Fig.  335),  commenced  after  the  completion  of 
the  choir  in  1200,  and  the  nave  of  the  Cathedral  at  Naumburg 
(Fig.  336).  The  design  both  of  the  plan  and  the  exterior  of  these 
buildings  shows  a  persistent  adherence  to  the  Romanic  types.  In 
the  interior,  also,  the  combination  of  six  piers  to  form  one  com- 
partment of  the  nave,  according  to  the  principle  of  the  alternation 


538  THE   EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

of  round  and  square  supports,  is  derived  from  the  Romanic  edifices 
of  the  Rhine,  and  the  windows  in  the  wall -arches  of  the  vault, 
whether  single  or  in  couples,  are  round-arched.  The  arcades  and 
vaults  are  pointed,  and  the  proportions  of  height  and  width  en- 
tirely altered.  A  certain  hesitation  is  shown  in  the  pointed  forms 
of  the  arcades,  and,  in  the  Church  of  Fritzlar,  in  the  relieving  arches, 
by  which  they  are  grouped  in  couples.  Moreover,  the  vaults  are 
commonly  without  ribs.  It  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  ribbed 
vaults  of  the  Cathedral  of  Bamberg  are  at  least  as  late  as  the  sec- 


10  m- 


Fig-  335- — System  of  the  Collegiate 
Church  of  Fritzlar. 


Fig-  336.— System  of  the  Cathedral 
of  Naumburg. 


ond  half  of  the  thirteenth  century,  and  may  have  been  constructed 
at  the  same  time  with  the  western  transept  and  the  choir.  In  other 
buildings  of  this  age,  such  as  the  nave  of  the  Church  of  St.  Sebaldus 
in  Nuremberg,  and  the  Minster  of  Basle, — exclusive  of  the  Romanic 
portions  near  the  portal  of  St.  Callus,  begun  in  1185,  —  the  walls 
are  divided  by  triforium  galleries,  those  of  the  latter  church  being 
round-arched.  , 

Westphalia  holds  a  middle  place  between  the  Lower  Rhine  and 
Central  Germany,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  North  German  Low- 


GERMANY. 


539 


lands,  on  the  other.  The  cathedrals  of  Osnabrueck  (Fig.  337)  and 
Muenster  (Fig.  338)  are  similar  in  some  respects  to  the  before-men- 
tioned ecclesiastical  edifices  of  Central  Germany,  at  the  same  time 
clearly  displaying  the  development  of  the  individual  peculiarities 
which  had  characterized  the  productions  of  this  province  during 
the  Romanic  epoch.  The  system  of  vaulting,  which  had  here  been 
adopted  at  an  earlier  age  than  in  Saxony  and  Southern  Germany, 
and  especially  the  important  innovation  of  equal  aisles,  necessarily 
led  to  simplifications  well  in  accord  with  the  existing  conditions 


Fig-  337- — System  of  the  Cathedral  of        Fig.  338. — System  of  the  Cathedral  of  Muen- 
Osnabrueck.  ster. 

of  culture  in  the  North,  and  with  the  brick  and  terra -cotta,  the 
only  available  building  materials.  After  the  primitive  basilical  ar- 
rangement had  been  disturbed  by  the  rectangular  termination  of 
the  choir,  and  especially  by  the  increased  height  of  the  side  aisles, 
further  alterations  became  necessary  in  the  construction  of  the 
ceiling,  on  account  of  the  impossibility  of  adapting  the  round- 
arched  cross-vaults  to  the  unequal  spaces  between  the  supports, — 
unless,  indeed,  the  side  aisles  were  to  become  of  .the  same  width 
as  the  nave.  Only  one  attempt  was  made  to  cover  the  side  aisles 
with  bisected  cross-vaults,  similar  to  the  bisected  barrel-vaults  of 


540 


THE   EXTENSION    OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 


Southern  France.  A  much  better  expedient  was  found  in  the 
pointed  arch,  which  was  employed  at  a  comparatively  early  period 
in  the  vaults  of  the  equal-aisled  churches  of  Westphalia.  It  was 
at  first  restricted  to  structures  of  smaller  dimensions.  These  pre- 
sented less  difficulty  to  the  builders,  as  yet  inexperienced  in  the 
execution  of  vaults  of  large  span,  and  more  readily  permitted  a 

break  with  the  traditions 
than  did  the  metropolitan 
churches.  Unfortunately, 
in  the  most  important  of 
the  works  of  this  class,  the 
Cathedral  of  Paderborn,  it 
cannot  be  surely  ascer- 
tained which  parts  are  ref- 
erable to  the  various  pe- 
riods of  construction  be- 
tween 1068  and  1263. 

The  North  German 
Lowlands,  having  been 
colonized  partly  by  West- 
phalia and  partly  by  Sax- 
ony and  Brunswick,  nat- 
urally received  their  archi- 
tecture from  these  coun- 
tries. The  almost  exclu- 
sive employment  of  brick 
in  the  construction,  result- 
ing from  the  lack  of  stone, 
gave,  however,  a  peculiar 
character  to  the  style. 
The  slow  advance  of  colonization  and  civilization  rendered  it  as 
impossible  during  the  transitional  as  during  the  Romanic  period  for 
Westphalia  to  develop  a  monumental  architecture  of  importance. 
Among  the  chief  buildings  may  be  mentioned  the  Church  of  St. 
Laurence  at  Salzwedel,  now  much  ruined,  the  round-arched  arcades 
of  which  appear  to  be  of  earlier  date  than  the  pointed  vaults.  Little 
information  can  be  gained  concerning  the  customary  arrangement  of 


Fig.  339. — Plan  of  the  Church  of  the  Virgin  on  the 
Harlungerberge  near  Brandenburg. 


GERMANY.  541 

the  ecclesiastical  edifices  of  Brandenburg  during  this  epoch  from  the 
Church  of  the  Virgin,  which  stood  upon  the  Harlungerberge  near 
Brandenburg  (Fig,  339),  demolished  in  1722  and  known  only  by 
drawings.  Its  plan  was  exceptional,  and  was  perhaps  determined 
by  that  of  the  primitive  church  erected  upon  this  site  in  1136  by 
Pribislav,  king  of  the  Wends.  In  the  provinces  of  the  Baltic,  the 
parts  of  the  Cathedral  of  Ratzeburg  referable  to  this  age  display 
the  direct  influence  of  the  Cathedral  of  Brunswick,  which  had  been 
built  shortly  before,  while  the  Cathedral  of  Cammin  and  the  Con- 
vent Church  of  Colbatz  share  the  archaic  character  of  the  archi- 
tecture of  Brandenburg. 

In  all  the  last-mentioned  churches,  and  in  many  other  structures 
of  this  part  of  Germany,  the  predominance  of  the  Romanic  style  is 
plainly  evident,  native  traditions  having  been  retained  intentionally 
and  by  preference.  The  few  Gothic  elements  show  no  systematic 
study  of  the  French  works,  and  appear  only  sporadically, — like  for- 
eign growths  introduced  into  the  great  mass  of  the  native  vegeta- 
tion through  chance  seeds  scattered  by  the  wind.  Still,  the  country 
was  not  entirely  without  early  and  direct  importations  from  France. 
These  would  most  naturally  have  been  received  through  the  Cister- 
cians, whose  influence,  however,  has  in  historical  respects  been  fre- 
quently overrated.  This  order,  which  had  originated  in  France,  in 
1098,  as  a  branch  of  Burgundian  Cluny,  maintained  the  connection 
with  Citeaux  and  its  four  oldest  colonies — La  Ferte",  Pontigny, 
Clairvaux,  and  Morimond — and  the  French  style  might  well  have 
been  at  once  introduced  into  Germany  by  this  brotherhood.  Nev- 
ertheless, it  is  certain  that  the  Gothic  was  not  employed  by  them  at 
this  time,  as  buildings  antedating  the  development  of  this  style 
appear  in  their  first  German  dependencies ;  namely,  Campen  near 
Cologne,  and  Lutzell  in  Alsace,  founded  in  1122,  Altenberg  in  Berg, 
A.  D.  1133,  Georgenberg  in  Thuringia,  A.  D.  1141,  and  probably 
also  Ebrach  (Fig.  340)  and  Heilbronn  in  Franconia,  Maulbronn  in 
Suabia,  Waldsassen  in  the  Upper  Palatinate,  and  Heiligenkreuz  in 
Austria.  It  appears  that  the  French  Cistercians,  who  in  all  things 
observed  the  utmost  simplicity,  and,  especially  after  the  construc- 
tion of  Citeaux,  favored  rectangular  choir  terminations,  surrounding 
them  with  small  retired  chapels  for  private  devotion  and  castiga- 


542 


THE   EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 


tion,  did  not  take  an  active  part  in  the  Gothic  movement,  and  con- 
sequently could  not  have  been  propagators  of  this  style  in  Germany. 
It  is,  however,  impossible  to  deny  that  the  architecture  of  Bur- 
gundy was  of  direct  influence.  In  the  Cistercian  Church  of  Then- 
nenbach  near  Freiburg  in  Baden,  founded  in  1156,  the  side  aisles 
are  covered  with  transverse  barrel-vaults,  very  similar  to  those  of 
Tournus;  and  in  the  Church  of  Bronnbach  in  Franconia,  built  be- 
tween 1151  and  1200,  the  chapels  of  the  transept  have  barrel-vaults, 
while  there  are  bisected  cross -vaults  above  the  side  aisles.  Even 
the  pointed  vault  of  the  nave  of  the  same  church,  being  destitute 
of  transverse  arches  and  ribs,  closely  resembles  a  pointed  barrel- 
vault  with  lunettes,  and  con- 
sequently betrays  reminis- 
cences of  the  same  province. 
In  the  Church  of  Marien- 
statt  near  Hachenburg,  built 
between  1243  and  1324,  the 
Gothic  style  was  at  last  fully 
adopted ;  but  this  was  not 
due  to  the  Cistercians,  as  by 
that  time  the  strong  current 
of  influence  had  entered  Ger- 
many from  Northern  France 
through  another  channel. 

The  increasing  celebrity  of 
the  French  cathedrals  could 

but  excite  in  the  Germans  a  desire  to  become  better  acquainted  with 
these  magnificent  works,  and  to  study  them  on  the  spot  in  order 
to  imitate  them  directly,  instead  of  merely  introducing  disconnected 
details  into  constructions  otherwise  Romanic.  This  imitation  was 
at  first  limited  to  a  small  number  of  models,  which  are  clearly  rec- 
ognizable in  the  copies.  The  beginning  was  made  by  the  architect 
of  the  choir  of  the  Cathedral  of  Magdeburg  (Fig.  341),  the  plan  of 
which,  with  the  surrounding  passage  and  the  radial  chapels,  hitherto 
unknown  in  Germany,  seems  to  have  been  suggested  by  that  of  the 
Cathedral  of  Soissons.  This  type  was  probably  adopted  at  the  in- 
stance of  the  founder,  Bishop  Albert  II.  of  Magdeburg,  who  had 


Fig.  340. — Plan  of  the  Choir  of  the  Church  of 
the  Cistercians  at  Ebrach,  Franconia. 


GERMANY. 


543 


become  acquainted  with  the  edifices  of  the  He  de  France  while  pur- 
suing his  studies  in  Paris.  The  choir  of  the  Cathedral  of  Soissons, 
consecrated  in  1212  —  the  same  year  in  which  that  of  Magdeburg 
was  begun — may  have  been  selected  because  its  radial  chapels,  dif- 
fering in  this  respect  from  those  of  all  other  French  cathedrals, 
were  not  of  semicircular  but  of  polygonal  plan,  thus  agreeing  well 
with  the  taste  of  the  Germans.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  ar- 
chitect of  Magdeburg  did  not  closely  follow  his  model,  inasmuch 
as  he  retained  piers  in  the  termination  of  the  choir,  did  not  fully 
develop  the  system  of  buttresses  between  the  chapels,  and  did  not 
entirely  emancipate  himself  from  Romanic  forms. 


r*^4^^, 


Fig.  341. — Plan  of  the  Cathedral  of  Magdeburg. 

It  cannot  be  known  in  how  far  it  was  the  intention  of  the  artist 
to  imitate  the  Cathedral  of  Soissons  in  the  nave,  as  this  was  not  ex- 
ecuted until  a  later  date.  Similar  features,  however,  appear  in  the 
nave  of  St.  George  at  Limburg  on  the  Lahn,  consecrated  in  1235, 
although  the  plan  of  this  church,  and  especially  the  grouping  of  the 
towers,  are  still  entirely  Romanic.  Even  as  the  Cathedral  of  Mag- 
deburg was  influenced  by  that  of  Soissons,  the  Church  of  Limburg 
unmistakably  shows,  in  the  formation  of  the  compartments,  a  de- 
pendence upon  the  early  Gothic  Cathedral  of  Noyon  (compare 
Fig.  342  with  Fig.  300). 

A  far  more  faithful  imitation  of  a  French  model  appears  in  the 
Church  of  Our  Lady  at  Treves,  built  between  1227  and  1243.  This 
building,  the  first  purely  Gothic  church  of  Germany,  is,  both  in 
plan  and  elevation,  directly  dependent  upon  the  Church  of  St.  Yved 


544 


THE   EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 


at  Braisne  near  Soissons,  built  between  1180  and  1216.  Some 
changes  were  naturally  made  in  the  general  arrangement.  The 
Church  of  Treves  is  a  concentric  structure,  with  a  central  vault 
resting  upon  four  piers,  surrounded  by  a  narrow  passage,  and  by 
polygonal  chapels,  five  on  each  side  (Fig.  343).  This  peculiar  form 
did  not  result  from  native  traditions,  but  from  a  duplication  of  the 

choir  of  St.  Yved,  to  which  the 
architect  of  Treves  was  led  in 
consequence  of  his  omission  of 
the  nave.  The  ends  of  the 
building  were  thus  rendered 
almost  entirely  symmetrical. 
With  exception  of  the  chapels, 
which  in  St.  Yved  are  semicir- 
cular, the  similarity  of  plan  is 
far  greater  than  that  between 
the  choirs  of  Magdeburg  and 
Soissons.  The  copy  is  not  so 
close  in  the  elevation  (Fig,  344). 
The  German  architect  followed 
native  traditions  in  the  intro- 
duction of  Romanic  portals,  and 
showed  his  wide  acquaintance 
with  the  cathedrals  of  France 
by  the  adoption  of  details  from 
Rheims  and  Paris,  which  he  com- 
bined with  taste  and  understand- 
ing. The  choice  of  a  small 
church  in  a  provincial  town  as 
a  model,  instead  of  one  of  the 
chief  monuments  of  the  French 
Gothic,  is  explicable  by  the  fact 

that  the  architect  of  Treves  was  called  upon  to  erect  a  church 
of  subordinate  importance,  not  a  cathedral ;  and  furthermore,  by 
the  consideration  that  the  choir  of  St.  Yved,  exceptional  among 
those  of  France,  bore  a  certain  resemblance  to  the  terminations 
previously  in  use  among  the  Germans.  If,  as  is  not  improbable, 


Fig.  342. — System  of  the  Church  of  St.  George 
at  Limburg  on  the  Lahn. 


GERMANY. 


545 


the  cloister  of  the  Cathedral  of  Treves  is  a  work  of  the  same  de- 
signer, it  would  appear  that  he  did  not  always  go  so  far  in  the 
adoption  of  Gothic  details. 

Although  the  example  of  Treves  was  not  without  influence  upon 
the  contemporary  architecture  of  Germany, — as  is  proved  by  the 


Fig.  343. — Plan  of  the  Church  of  Our  Lady  at 
Treves. 


Fig.  344. — System  of  the  Church 
of  Our  Lady  at  Treves. 


buildings  of  distant  provinces,  as  well  as  by  those  in  the  immediate 
vicinity, — it  was  still  not  possible  to  altogether  abandon  the  Ro- 
manic traditions  until  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century.  The 
absolute  ascendency  of  the  French  Gothic  style  appeared  in  three 
magnificent  and  eminently  successful  edifices :  the  cathedrals  of 
Strasburg,  Freiburg  in  Baden,  and  Cologne.  All  these,  in  the  parts 

35 


546 


THE   EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 


in  question,  were  begun  at  the  same  time,  shortly  before  the  middle 
of  the  thirteenth  century.  The  progress  of  their  construction,  how- 
ever, was  not  equally  rapid,  the  nave  of  Freiburg  being  completed 
in  1270,  that  of  Strasburg  in  1275,  while  the  choir  of  Cologne  was 
delayed  until  1320. 

In  the  two  former  churches  the   choir  and   transept   had  just 
been  finished  in  the  transitional  style  when  the  construction  of  the 
Gothic  nave  was  commenced.    The  fact  that 
the  nave  of  the  Strasburg  Minster  was  de- 
signed  earlier  than  that  of  Freiburg  gives 
weight  to  certain  traces  in  this  latter  of  de- 
pendence upon  the  former.     At  all  events, 
the  two  edifices  are  closely  related  in  charac- 
ter, and  it  has  been  recognized  that  the  direct 
prototype  of  both  is  the  nave  of  St.  Denis, 
begun  in  1231.    The  piers,  placed  diagonally, 
with  sixteen  boltels,  are  alike  in  both  min- 
sters ;    but  the   elevation  is  rendered  more 
simple  at  Freiburg  (Fig.  345)  by  the  omission 
of  the  triforium  gallery,  which  is  of  so  good 
effect  in  Strasburg.    The  body  of  the  church 
is  of  comparatively  greater  height  in  the  for- 
mer than  in  the  latter,  where  it  was  depend- 
ent   upon    that    of   the    previously    existing 
transept.     In  Strasburg  the  nave,  even  after 
the  additions  made  to  it  by  Erwin  von  Stein- 
bach,  is  not  more  than  twice  as  high  as  it  is 
wide,  and  in  Freiburg  the  nave  is  far  from 
cQ \  I  ..i  t    i    t  ...fHu        reaching  a  height   equal  to  three  times  its 
width,  a  proportion  generally  adopted  in  the 
contemporary   cathedrals   of   France.      The 
German    churches    thus    contrast    favorably 
with  the  French  models  in  possessing  a  certain  breadth  and  spa- 
ciousness.    The  greatest  difference  between  the  minsters  of  Stras- 
burg and  Freiburg  is  to  be  observed  in  the  fagades.     The  fine  effect 
of  that  of  the  former  is  to  be  ascribed  to  Erwin  von  Steinbach, 
A.D.  1277  to  1298.     The  fagade  of  the  latter,  with  its  one  tower, 


Fig-  345- — System  of   the 
Minster  of  Freiburg. 


GERMANY, 


547 


was  completed  at  an  earlier  date,  although  not  until  the  commence- 
ment of  the  fourteenth  century  (Fig.  346). 

The  reconstruction  of  the  Romanic  Cathedral  of  Cologne  was 
commenced  in  the  choir,  on  the  I4th  of  August,  1248.  It  was  at 
first  only  intended  to  add  to  the  Romanic  nave  a  new  choir.  This 


Fig.  346. — View  of  the  Minster  of  Freiburg. 

celebrated  work,  one  of  the  grandest  creations  of  the  Gothic  style 
in  regard  to  harmony  of  execution  as  well  as  to  dimensions,  is  also 
an  almost  exact  imitation  of  a  French  model,  the  choir  of  the  Ca- 
thedral of  Amiens.  The  name  of  the  architect  who  drew  the  plan, 
Gerhard  von  Riel,  should  nevertheless  be  rescued  from  oblivion  and 
ranked  with  that  of  Erwin  von  Steinbach,  on  account  of  the  beauty 


548  THE   EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

of  the  proportions,  the  trained  skill  of  the  technical  and  artistic 
treatment,  and  the  perfection  of  the  exquisite  details, — all  deserving 
of  the  greatest  admiration.  This  was,  indeed,  accorded  to  the  artist 
during  his  lifetime  and  the  following  century.  Even  the  successors 
in  the  work,  generally  so  apt  to  give  expression  to  the  real  or  im- 
aginary improvements  of  their  time,  closely  followed  the  original 
design.  This  applies  not  only  to  Master  Arnold,  who  is  mentioned 
after  A.D.  1296,  but  also  to  his  son  John,  who,  after  1319,  was  in- 
trusted with  the  superintendence  of  the  work.  After  the  con- 
secration of  the  choir  in  1322,  when  it  was  resolved  to  demolish 
the  Romanic  nave  and  to  rebuild  it  in  the  Gothic  style,  the  design 
of  the  new  parts  was  made  to  harmonize  perfectly  with  that  of  the 
old,  contrary  to  the  usual  method.  It  is  not  known  whether  the 
design  of  Master  John  was  entirely  his  own,  or  whether  it  was  based 
upon  the  earlier  sketches  of  Master  Gerhard  ;  at  all  events,  the 
unity  of  the  construction  is  such  as  to  make  one  forget  that  almost 
a  century  had  elapsed  between  the  planning  of  the  choir  and  of  the 
nave  (Figs.  347  and  348).  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  imposing 
fa9ade,  the  design  of  which,  referable  to  1350,  was  recovered  by  a 
fortunate  chance,  and  has  been  of  great  importance  in  the  modern 
completion  of  the  towers. 

The  importance  of  this  work  has  been  undervalued  in  the  asser- 
tion that  it  is  a  slavish  copy  of  the  Cathedral  of  Amiens,  and  in 
denying  to  it  all  originality  and  individuality.  Neither  of  these 
objections  is  altogether  correct.  Although  the  plan  of  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Cologne,  in  its  leading  features,  closely  resembles  that  of  the 
before-mentioned  model,  and  the  entire  design  bears  a  relation  to 
the  French  Gothic,  similar  to  that  of  the  architecture  of  Rome  to 
that  of  Greece,  the  Rhenish  edifice  has  the  advantage  of  carrying 
out  the  principles  of  the  French  style  with  a  certain  consequence 
and  harmony.  Moreover,  in  general  arrangement  as  in  details,  it  is 
not  without  innovations  peculiarly  German.  These  are  more  es- 
pecially to  be  observed  upon  the  exterior.  In  no  French  cathedral 
are  the  abutments  so  organically  and  richly  developed,  even  to  their 
very  pinnacles;  in  none  are  the  flying  buttresses  so  rational  and 
tasteful.  The  just  proportions  of  the  decorative  accessaries  are  ev- 
erywhere observed,  these  being  equally  free  from  baldness  and  from 


GERMANY. 


549 


over-elaboration.  Occasionally,  it  is  true,  the  monotonous  repeti- 
tion is  disagreeably  felt,  giving  a  somewhat  mechanical  character  to 
the  ornamentation  ;  still,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  forms,  whether 
borrowed  or  independently  developed,  are  particularly  well  adapted 
to  their  functions.  Our  admiration  of  the  building,  therefore,  should 
not  be  limited  to  its  dimensions.  While  it  is  surpassed  by  many 


Fig.  347. — Plan  of  the  Cathedral  of 
Cologne. 


i__| — ; — J — i — imr. 

<r    o 

Fig.  348. — System  of  the  Choir  of 
the  Cathedral  of  Cologne. 


others  in  individuality  and  artistic  novelty,  it  is  inferior  to  none  in 
fidelity  to  the  principles  of  the  style,  and  in  harmonious  unity. 

The  systematic  and  somewhat  empirical  correctness  of  the  work, 
and  the  fame  of  the  architects  of  Cologne,  could  not  fail  to  develop 
a  school  whose  influence  was  of  wide  extent.  It  is  to  be  traced  in 
the  north  as  far  as  Utrecht — instance  the  cathedral  of  that  town ;  in 


550 


THE   EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 


the  west  to  the  Cathedral  of  Metz  ;  and  in  the  south  to  Oppen- 
heim,  where  it  appears  in  the  Church  of  St.  Catherine  (Fig.  350).  In 
the  more  southern  districts  it  competed  with  the  influences  of  Stras- 
burg  and  Freiburg.  The  school  of  Cologne  sent  its  designers  also 
to  the  East,  in  spite  of  the  want  of  receptiveness  of  Westphalia, 
exemplified  in  the  Cathedral  of  Minden,  and  of  Saxony,  in  that  of 
Halberstadt  (Fig.  349),  the  Rhenish  love  of  magnificence  being  al- 
together foreign  to  the  national  taste  of  these  countries.  The  influ- 
ence of  the  brilliant  models  of  France  and  of  the  provinces  of  the 

t 


Fig.  349. — Section  of  the  Cathedral  of  Halberstadt. 

Rhine  was  by  this  time  so  widely  felt  that  the  new  style  was  adopt- 
ed wherever  wealthy  colleges,  bishoprics,  and  growing  cities  found 
it  necessary  to  erect  or  to  reconstruct  their  churches.  It  is  plain 
that  the  Germans  were  fully  aware  of  the  source  from  which  these 
elements  were  derived ;  this  is  proved  by  the  "  Chronicon  Wimpi- 
nense  "  of  Burckard  de  Hallis,  which  not  only  ascribes  the  Collegiate 
Church  of  St.  Peter  at  Wimpfen  im  Thai,  built  between  1261  and 
1278,  to  an  architect  "  come  from  Paris,"  but  explicitly  declares  it 
to  be  "  opus  Francigenum."  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  desig- 


GERMANY. 


551 


nation  had,  among  the  educated  classes  of  that  age,  the  same  signi- 
fication as  "  Gothic  style  "  has  to-day.  It  is  certainly  a  far  more 
appropriate  name  than  the  latter,  which,  as  is  well  known,  was 
brought  into  use  as  a  term  of  contempt  by  the  Italian  masters  of 
the  Renaissance.  The  Emperor  Charles  IV.,  in  founding  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Prague,  is  known  to  have  employed  a  French  architect  from 


Fig.  350. — System  of  the  Church  of 
St.  Catherine  at  Oppenheim. 


Fig.  351. — System  of  the  Cathedral 
of  Ratisbon. 


Avignon,  Matthew  of  Arras,  who  directed  the  construction  from 
13/1/1  to  1352,  and  so  far  completed  it  as  to  leave  to  his  successor, 
Peter  of  Gmuend,  no  choice  in  regard  to  style.  In  the  Cathedral  of 
Ratisbon,  begun  in  1273  (Fig.  351),  the  employment  of  a  French- 
man, or  of  an  architect  trained  in  France,  cannot,  indeed,  be  definite- 
ly proved  ;  still,  the  building,  in  its  variety  and  grace,  betrays  the 


552  THE   EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

direct  influence  of  France  as  distinctly  as  it  does  that  of  the  school  of 
Cologne.  This  most  charming  of  all  German  cathedrals  has,  never- 
theless, much  that  is  peculiarly  national  and  individual ;  the  simple 
termination  of  the  choir,  for  instance,  and  of  the  similar  chapels  at 
the  ends  of  the  side  aisles,  successfully  avoids  the  cramped  plan 
which  in  the  architecture  of  France  had  resulted  from  the  surround- 
ing passage  and  radial  chapels. 

As  a  rule,  certain  national  peculiarities  are  manifest,  even  in 
those  cases  where  the  French  Gothic  was  closely  followed.  These 
give  to  the  German  buildings  a  character  of  their  own.  The  most 
remarkable  of  these  traits  appear  in  the  polygonal  terminations  of 
the  choir,  which  not  only  differ  greatly  from  the  French,  but  vary 
one  from  the  other.  The  pillars  of  the  German  Romanic  were  re- 
tained, in  contrast  to  the  columnar  supports  of  the  French,  the 
boltels  being  both  disposed  in  plan  and  carried  up  to  the  impost  of 
the  vault  in  a  more  organic  manner.  The  common  capital  was  thus 
more  naturally  avoided,  and  the  vertical  principle,  especially,  more 
consequentially  carried  out.  The  foliage  of  the  small  capitals  and 
cusps,  consisting  chiefly  of  oak- leaves,  is  more  thoroughly  conven- 
tionalized than  in  France.  The  tracery  is  rendered  exceedingly 
elaborate  through  the  employment  of  triangles  and  quadrangles 
with  curved  sides,  these  being  better  adapted  to  the  pointed  arch 
than  were  the  circular  forms.  The  intersections  and  trefoils  result- 
ed in  a  fine  play  of  geometrical  lines.  This  greater  variety  in  the 
tracery  led  to  the  early  adoption  of  reticulate  and  stellar  forms  for 
the  ribs  of  the  vault,  these  latter,  in  France,  until  a  much  later 
period,  having  been  restricted  to  the  main  lines. 

Upon  the  exterior  the  design  attained  a  harmonious  unity  of 
the  constructive  and  decorative  features,  and  a  more  equal  dis- 
tribution of  the  ornamental  members.  The  buttresses,  which  in 
France  had  been  somewhat  bare,  assumed  the  importance  of  small 
towers,  their  walls  being  covered  with  tracery  in  relief,  and  sur- 
mounted with  pointed  gables  and  slender  pinnacles.  Cablets  above 
the  windows  and  entrances  heightened  the  effect  of  the  vertical 
lines  of  the  composition,  and  were,  in  themselves,  ornamental.  The 
peculiarities  of  German  design  appeared  chiefly  in  the  treatment  of 
the  faQade,  the  towers  being  of  a  size  and  magnificence  rarely  at- 


GERMANY.  553 

tained  in  France  and  England.  The  ranges  of  tabernacles  of  the 
French  models  were  avoided,  as  not  being  in  harmony  with  the  ver- 
tical tendencies  of  the  German  style ;  and,  for  similar  reasons,  the 
buttress  piers,  although  greatly  diminished,  were  not  divided  by 
horizontal  cornices.  At  first  the  lower  parts  were  of  comparative 
simplicity;  instance  the  tower  of  the  Minster  of  Freiburg,  one  of 
the  earliest  of  the  kind.  But  as  early  as  the  two  towers  of  Stras- 
burg,  designed  by  Erwin  von  Steinbach,  an  elaborate  multiplica- 
tion of  the  upright  supports  was  commenced  ;  and  in  the  Cathedral 
of  Cologne  this  is  continued  to  the  very  apex  of  the  structure.  In 
the  octagon,  which  in  Freiburg  is  more  organically  connected  with 
its  substructure,  although  still  distinct  from  it,  the  openings  are  mul- 
tiplied and  the  memberment  more  elaborated.  This  was  especially 
the  case  with  the  four  pinnacles  at  the  corners,  the  gables  and  finials 
of  which  rise  above  the  horizontal  juncture  of  the  spire.  In  the 
cathedrals  of  France  the  spire  had  often  been  omitted  altogether, 
without  great  detriment  to  the  design  ;  in  those  of  England,  where 
it  was  exceptional,  it  rose  without  intermediation  from  the  sub- 
structure, and  was  thus  even  less  successful  than  the  horizontal  flat 
roof  of  the  tower.  In  Germany,  on  the  other  hand,  it  formed  the 
direct  and  indispensable  termination  of  the  pile,  which  was  pyram- 
idally diminished  from  its  very  base.  The  spire  of  the  Church  of 
St.  Stephen  in  Vienna,  for  instance,  is  but  little  more  inclined  than 
are  the  walls  which  support  it.  To  this  it  must  be  added  that  the 
multiplication  of  the  openings  rendered  it  out  of  the  question  to 
construct  a  spire  of  solid  masonry,  such  as  those  customary  in 
France.  Above  the  octagon  all  the  supports  were  isolated  and  filled 
in  with  mullions  and  tracery ;  in  like  manner,  the  spire  was  treated 
as  a  combination  of  eight  slender  and  perforated  gablets,  —  as  a 
framework  of  eight  ribs  of  stone  connected  by  staff-work  and  trac- 
ery, fringed  with  crockets,  and  terminated  by  an  imposing  finial. 
It  is  plain  that  the  treatment  which  had  originated  in  the  Gothic 
windows,  extending,  as  has  been  seen,  to  the  walls  as  traceries  in 
relief,  and  to  the  ceilings  as  reticulate  vaults,  was  applied  even  to 
the  spire,  and,  carried  out  with  the  strictest  consequence,  led  to 
an  elaborate  decorative  perforation  of  the  pyramidal  roof,  although 
this  would  seem  most  imperatively  to  require  unbroken  and  im- 


554  THE   EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

penetrable  surfaces.  The  Gothic  architects  of  Germany,  however, 
did  not  conceive  the  spire  as  being  the  roof  of  the  tower,  which 
had  itself  outgrown  its  original  purpose  as  a  belfry,  but  regarded  it 
rather  as  a  lofty  monument  of  pious  pride.  The  actual  roofing  of 
the  tower  was  constructed  within  the  perforated  spire,  its  surfaces 
having  but  a  slight  pitch,  and  being  invisible  from  below.  The 
light  stone  tracery,  in  its  ethereal  rhythm,  may  be  compared  to  a 
hymn,  rising  grandly  to  the  heavens,  heedless  of  the  earthly  require- 
ments of  protection  and  of  the  dangers  from  wind  and  weather,  to 
which  the  light  structure  was  so  exposed.  It  is  still  less  surprising 
in  Germany  than  in  France  that  these  aspiring  towers  should  have 
been  but  rarely  completed,  even  in  those  cases,  as  at  Freiburg  and 
Ulm,  where  the  designers  contented  themselves  with  the  erection 
of  a  single  pile  before  the  nave,  contrary  both  to  the  traditions  of 
the  Romanic  style  and  to  those  of  the  Gothic  of  France.  Of  the 
larger  churches  only  the  one  tower  of  St.  Stephen  at  Vienna  and 
that  of  Freiburg  were  erected  during  the  first  period  of  construction. 
One  of  the  towers  of  the  Minster  of  Strasburg  was,  indeed,  built  at 
the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages,  between  1404  and  1439,  by  the  broth- 
ers Juncker  of  Prague,  and  by  John  Hueltz  of  Cologne, — but  not  in 
accordance  with  the  design  of  Erwin  von  Steinbach,  the  spirit  of  dis- 
organization and  technical  bravura  having  by  that  time  made  itself 
felt.  Others,  as,  for  instance,  those  of  Ratisbon,  Cologne,  and  Ulm, 
have  been  completed  within  recent  years. 

Notwithstanding  the  many  peculiarities  before  described,  all 
these  cathedrals  and  collegiate  churches  were  much  more  depend- 
ent upon  the  French  models  than  were  the  edifices  of  the  same 
class  in  England.  On  the  other  hand,  we  meet  in  Germany  with  a 
number  of  monuments  of  far  greater  originality  and  more  marked 
national  character,  which  have  a  just  claim  to  be  considered  as  typ- 
ical of  the  Gothic  style  of  that  country.  These  were  the  churches 
with  aisles  of  equal  height.  They  had  appeared  in  the  eastern 
provinces  of  the  Lower  Rhine  even  during  the  Romanic  period, 
and  still  more  frequently  during  the  transitional  ages.  The  first 
equal-aisled  church  of  the  Gothic  style  is,  however,  that  of  St.  Elisa- 
beth at  Marburg,  built  between  1235  and  1283  (Fig.  352).  In  it 
may  be  traced  the  influence  of  the  Church  of  Our  Lady  at  Treves, 


GERMANY. 


555 


and  thus,  indirectly,  that  of  France ;  still,  in  the  vaults  of  equal 
height,  supported  upon  pillars  of  symmetrical  plan,  in  the  restric- 
tion of  the  windows  to  the  walls  of  the  side  aisles,  and  in  the  ex- 
tremely simple  system  of  buttresses,  the  structure  introduced  ele- 
ments but  rarely  employed  on  the  west  of  the  Rhine.  That  a  tran- 
sept was  not  of  harmonious  effect  in  such  an  arrangement  became 


Fig.  352. — Section  of  the  Church  of  St.  Elisabeth  at  Marburg. 

evident  through  this  experiment ;  but  the  Church  of  St.  Elisabeth, 
even  in  this  respect,  followed  the  models  of  Cologne,  rather  than 
those  of  France,  in  the  apsidal  form  of  the  end  walls. 

This  system,  developed  in  Marburg,  was  imitated,  or  at  least 
followed  in  its  main  features,  far  beyond  the  boundary  of  Hesse. 
It  found  particular  favor  in  those  districts  where  brick  was  the 


556  THE   EXTENSION    OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

only  building  material,  as  it  was  seen  that  this  method  of  con- 
struction produced  a  good  effect,  while  requiring  but  little  artistic 
memberment  and  decoration.  In  the  simplicity  and  the  equality 
of  its  parts  it  agreed  better  with  the  bourgeois  character  of  the 
Germans  of  that  period  than  did  the  pompous  and  elegant  struct- 
ure of  the  cathedrals  of  France,  which  was  rather  in  accord  with 
the  chivalrous  and  courtly  tastes  of  the  French,  and  was  in  great 
measure  the  creation  of  ecclesiastical  dignitaries.  The  Germans, 
therefore,  leaving  the  imitation  of  French  models  to  the  architects 
of  Episcopal  cathedrals  and  court  churches,  followed  their  own  na- 
tional system.  This  was  especially  the  case  in  the  flourishing  free 
cities  and  the  industrial  and  commercial  towns,  the  citizens  of 
which,  long  before  the  Reformation,  had  placed  themselves  in  a 
certain  opposition  to  the  ecclesiastical  and  secular  princes.  The 
middle  class  was  at  that  time  of  far  greater  importance  in  Germany 
than  it  was  either  in  France  or  in  England,  and  was  consequently 
able  to  build  larger  and  more  numerous  edifices  than  were  even 
the  episcopal  towns,  where  nearly  all  the  requisite  churches  had 
been  erected  during  the  Romanic  and  Transitional  epochs.  The 
new  buildings  were,  of  course,  more  simple  in  character,  chiefly 
parish  churches,  to  which  the  equal -aisled  construction,  without  a 
detached  presbytery,  was  especially  well  adapted ;  this  arrange- 
ment has,  however,  been  also  employed,  and  with  great  success,  for 
cathedrals,  instance  St.  Stephen  at  Vienna.  Thus,  the  church  with 
aisles  of  equal  height  became  the  characteristic  expression  of  the 
increased  importance  of  the  people  in  the  political  and  social  rela- 
tions of  Germany,  in  the  same  way  as  the  cathedral  was  representa- 
tive of  the  culture  of  France  and  England,  which  was  decidedly 
courtly  and  aristocratic,  the  forms  of  worship  being  chiefly  episcopal. 
In  the  Church  of  St.  Elisabeth  at  Marburg,  as  there  was  no 
clerestory,  the  windows  were  disposed  in  the  high  side  aisles,  above 
the  lower  apertures  customary  in  the  basilical  arrangement.  The 
double  row  of  windows  thus  resulting  gave  upon  the  exterior  the 
effect  of  the  long-abandoned  gallery  (Fig-  353).  The  incongruity 
of  this  soon  became  evident,  and  an  attempt  was  made  to  avoid 
the  disadvantages  by  combining  the  two  stories  of  windows  into 
one.  The  consequent  height  and  narrowness  of  the  openings  was 


GERMANY. 


557 


relieved  by  the  introduction  of  a  transom -like  frieze  of  tracery, 
which  divided  the  window  into  two  parts  (Fig.  354).  Subsequently 
the  very  loftiness  of  these  undivided  windows  was  felt  to  be  in  har- 
mony with  the  tall  and  slender  pillars  of  the  equal -aisled  church, 
and  to  correspond  with  the  general  vertical  tendencies  of  the  de- 
sign. The  horizontal  division  was  therefore  omitted,  and  the  mul- 
lions  continued  without  interruption  along  the  whole  length,  to  the 


0      *r 


O 


Fig-  353- — System  of  the      Fig.  354. — System  of  the  Wie-       Fig.  355. — System  of  the 
Church  of  St.  Elisabeth  senkirche  at  Soest.  Church  of  St.  George  at 

at  Marburg.  Noerdlingen. 

tracery  of  the  pointed  arch  (Fig.  355).  The  supports  were  simpli- 
fied, the  bundle  of  shafts  being  transformed  into  an  octagonal  pier. 
This  change  naturally  led  to  the  direct  intersection  of  the  ribs  of 
the  reticulate  vault  with  the  surfaces  of  the  piers,  consoles  and 
vaulting  posts  being  introduced  only  in  exceptional  cases. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  these  edifices  have  a  certain  prosaic 
and  commonplace  character,  but  often  also  a  quiet  grandeur  which 
compares  favorably  with  many  a  French  cathedral.  The  well-light- 


558  THE   EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

ed  central  aisle  is  free  from  the  cramped  and  sombre  effect  of  the 
high  French  nave,  while  the  side  aisles  are  rendered  of  more  im- 
portance. The  proportions  of  the  structure  have  a  harmony  long 
unattained  in  ecclesiastic  architecture.  Vaults  of  equal  height 
overspread  the  whole  interior  in  regular  undulations.  The  nave 
is  seldom  interrupted  by  a  transept ;  the  choir  is  consequently 
less  detached,  the  elevation  of  the  crypt  being  at  last  given  up. 
The  surrounding  passage  with  radial  chapels  is  generally  retained. 
Chapels  are  often  placed  along  the  side  aisles  by  allowing  the  but- 
tresses to  project  into  the  interior,  at  times  rising  to  the  impost  of 
the  vault,  as  in  the  Church  of  Our  Lady  in  Munich,  at  times  ter- 
minating at  half  height,  as  in  the  Church  of  St.  Martin  at  Landshut. 
These  buildings  are  provided  upon  three  sides  with  five  portals, 
these  giving  an  opportunity  for  profuse  decoration,  in  which  brick 
was  as  seldom  employed  as  in  the  tracery  and  the  ribs  of  the  elab- 
orate stellar  and  reticulate  vaults.  This  was  the  case  even  in  those 
parts  of  Southern  Germany  where  there  was  no  stone.  While  the 
interior  of  the  brick  buildings  is  entirely  dependent  upon  stucco  re- 
vetment, the  exterior  has,  in  Upper  Germany,  but  little  ornamen- 
tation, the  memberment  consisting  chiefly  of  pilaster  strips  with 
pointed  arched  corbel-tables,  both  of  which  features  were  derived, 
with  certain  alterations,  from  the  Romanic  style. 

Brick  architecture  was  of  a  greater  elaboration  in  the  North 
German  Lowlands,  where  the  absolute  lack  of  other  material  obliged 
the  builders  to  substitute,  in  the  place  of  sculptured  details  of  stone, 
decorations  of  pressed  terra-cotta,  combined  with  varied  courses  of 
colored  and  glazed  bricks.  Colored  ornamentation  of  this  kind  at- 
tained its  highest  development  in  the  province  of  Brandenburg. 
The  town  of  Brandenburg,  which  early  became  the  most  important 
place  of  the  province,  has  two  equal-aisled  parish  churches — that  of 
St.  Godehard,  completed  in  1346,  and  that  of  St.  Catherine,  built 
between  1380  and  1401.  The  exterior  of  the  latter  is  rendered  of 
good  effect  by  alternate  courses  of  dark  green  and  red  tiles,  while 
the  ornamented  gables,  the  rich  tracery  of  the  windows,  the  friezes, 
and  even  the  decorative  statues,  are  of  terra-cotta.  The  Church  of 
the  Virgin  at  Prenzlau/F^-.  356),  erected  at  about  the  same  time  as 
St.  Catherine,  is,  notably  in  the  elaborate  gable  of  its  choir,  a  fine 


GERMANY.  559 

example  of  the  brick  architecture  of  the  Lowlands.  The  towers, 
however,  share  the  plainness  and  massiveness  of  most  of  the  build- 
ings of  this  district,  being  undiminished,  and  having  no  octagonal 
superstructure ;  the  wall  surfaces  are  membered  only  by  pilaster 
strips  and  narrow  windows.  Somewhat  similar  in  construction  are 
the  churches  of  St.  Stephen  at  Tan- 
germuende,  St.  John  at  Werben,  and 
the  Virgin  at  Koenigsberg  in  the 
Neumark,  all  of  which  are  referable 
to  the  second  half  of  the  fourteenth 
century ;  furthermore,  the  Cathedral 
and  the  Church  of  the  Virgin  at  Sten- 
dal,  dating  from  the  first  half  of  the 
fifteenth.  The  ecclesiastical  edifices 
of  Mecklenburg  and  Pomerania  are 
more  simple.  This  applies  especially 
to  the  province  of  Prussia  itself,  the 
seat  of  the  German  Order  of  Knights, 
whose  institutions,  of  somewhat  mar- 
tial character,  rarely  permitted  a  not- 
able artistic  development  in  the 
churches :  instance  the  Cathedral  of 
Frauenburg,  A.  D.  1329  to  1388,  and 
the  Church  of  the  Virgin  at  Dantzic, 
1343  to  1502.  The  bald  and  heavy 
character  and  the  low  proportions  of 
these  edifices  are  in  striking  contrast 
to  certain  of  the  brick  buildings  of 
South  Germany,  as,  for  example,  the 
Church  of  St.  Martin  at  Landshut,  in 
which  the  vaults  attain  a  height  of 
thirty  metres,  while  the  piers  are  only 
about  one  metre  in  diameter,  being  thus  of  extreme  attenuation. 

The  Gothic  architecture  of  France  had  long  been  declining  when 
that  of  Germany, — adopted  late,  but  at  last  fully  nationalized, — at- 
tained its  greatest  perfection.  In  the  fifteenth  century,  however, 
the  decadence  began  also  in  Germany.  The  preference  for  polygo- 


Fig.  356. — View  of  the  Church  of  the 
Virgin  at  Prenzlau,  from  the  east. 


e6o  THE  EXTENSION   OF  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE. 

nal  plans  led  to  whimsical  artifices,  which  may  be  compared  to 
the  barroque  designs  of  the  late  Renaissance.  The  ornamentation, 
especially  the  tracery,  was  no  longer  limited  to  geometrical  lines, 
which  had  been  used  in  such  pleasing  and  tasteful  variety ;  not  only 
were  the  straight-lined  forms  greatly  exaggerated,  but  a  new  phase 

of  the  style  made  its  appearance, 
the  so-called  Fischblase,  or  Vesica 
Piscis,  similar  to  the  English  Flow- 
ing and  the  French  Flamboyant. 
In  some  cases  the  decorative  de- 
tails imitated  intertwined  branches 
and  other  plant  forms ;  the  points 
of  the  finials,  contrary  to  their 
vertical  character,  were  bent  and 
crossed  in  gentle  curves ;  the  ribs 
were  detached  from  the  panels  of 
the  vaults,  and  transformed  into 
intricate  ornaments.  All  these 
features  show  a  debasement  corre- 
sponding to  that  of  the  rococo, — 
the  last  stage  of  the  declining  Re- 
naissance. With  all  this  fantastic 
trifling  there  was  still  a  conscious- 
ness that  the  principles  of  the  old- 
er works  ought  not  to  be  aban- 
doned. This  is  not  only  seen  in 
the  technical  excellence  of  the  later 
edifices,  but  is  expressed  as  an  aph- 
orism in  the  book  of  the  episco- 
pal architect  of  Ratisbon,  Matthew 
Roritzer,  "  Von  der  Fialen  Gerech- 
tigkeit,"  printed  at  Eichstaedt  in 
1486.  In  this  work  great  praise  is 

bestowed  upon  the  two  brothers  Juncker  of  Prague,  whose  princi- 
ples were  derived  from  the  Suabian  master  of  Gmuend,  and  thus  in- 
directly from  the  founder  of  the  school  of  architecture  of  Prague,  Mas- 
ter Matthew  of  Arras,  called  to  the  Bohemian  capital  by  Charles  IV. 


Fig.  357. — Column  of 
the  Herrenhaus  at 
Maulbronn. 


Fig.  358. — Column 
of  the  Cloister  of 
the  Cathedral  at 
Eichstaedt 


GERMANY. 


56l 


The  advance  in  secular  architecture,  monumental  as  well  as 
private,  went  hand  in  hand  with  that  of  the  ecclesiastical.  Until 
the  close  of  the  twelfth  century  the  German  convents  and  princely 
palaces  had  been  of  but  little  architectural  significance ;  nor  were 
the  civic  buildings  in  any  wise  distinguished.  The  houses  of  patri- 
cians were  occasionally  provided  with  towers,  as  in  Ratisbon,  but 
the  dwellings  of  the  burghers  were  extremely  unpretentious.  This 
state  of  things  was  entirely 
altered  in  Germany  with  the 
increased  demand  for  the  re- 
finements of  life,  not  only  at 
the  courts  of  princes,  but 
among  the  higher  ecclesias- 
tical and  secular  authorities, 
who  favored  the  gratifica- 
tion of  similar  requirements 
in  the  convents  founded  or 
restored  by  them.  In  this 
regard  a  fact  of  the  most 
far-reaching  importance  was 
that  the  monopoly  of  artis- 
tic activity  passed,  in  great 
measure,  from  the  monks  to 
the  laymen,  the  attention, 
especially  in  the  growing 
towns,  being  thus  turned  to- 
wards the  erection  of  secu- 
lar edifices. 

The  convents  were  the  first  to  outgrow  the  extreme  simplicity 
which  had  hitherto  satisfied  their  modest  wants.  Stately  cloisters, 
with  arcades  similar  to  triforium  galleries,  were  customary  as  early 
as  the  transitional  period,  and  the  Romanic  forms  were  preserved  in 
these  structures  even  at  a  time  when  the  Gothic  style  had  become 
prevalent  in  church  building.  This  was  the  case  in  the  fine  cloisters 
of  the  Austrian  Cistercian  convents  Zwetl  and  Heiligenkreuz,  in 
that  of  the  Cathedral  of  Treves,  and  in  the  courts  of  the  Cathedral 
of  Erfurt,  and  St.  Emmeramnus  at  Ratisbon ;  the  two  latter,  how- 

.36 


Fig.  359. — South-eastern  Corner  of  the  Cloister  of 
the  Cistercian  Convent  of  Maulbronn. 


562  THE   EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

ever,  were  completed  in  the  Gothic  style.  It  is  not  definitely  known 
whether  purely  Gothic  cloisters  existed  before  that  at  Klosterneu- 
burg  in  Austria,  built  between  1270  and  1292,  but  it  is  certain  that 
many  of  those  standing  in  connection  with  cathedrals  and  convents 
were  constructed  soon  after  that  age  (Fig.  359).  In  all  of  these, 
windows  with  elaborate  tracery  took  the  place  of  the  arcades,  and 
instead  of  the  wooden  ceilings  hitherto  customary,  ribbed  vaults 
were  introduced.  These  latter,  in  their  perspective  effect,  are 
among  the  most  pleasing  creations  of  that  period.  A  similar  ar- 
rangement of  windows  and  ceilings  was  gradually  adopted  in  the 
chapter  halls  and  refectories  ;  excellent  examples  of  these  still  exist 
in  Maulbronn.* 

The  fortress-like  character  of  the  palaces  did  not  at  first  favor  a 
higher  artistic  development,  especially  in  regard  to  the  exterior. 
Transitional  forms  were  long  retained,  as  for  instance  in  the  Castle 
of  Reichenberg  near  Goarshausen,  built  in  1284.  This  is  chiefly 
due  to  the  fact  that  parts  of  the  previously  existing  buildings  were 
preserved  in  the  reconstructions,  and  furthermore  that  the  round 
arch  did  not  require  so  great  a  height  of  the  stories,  thus  giving 
it  a  practical  advantage  over  the  high  Gothic  vaults.  The  deco- 
rative details  of  the  new  style  were  therefore  more  frequently  intro- 
duced than  was  its  constructive  system,  they  being  employed  in  so 
-  far  as  they  could  be  adapted  to  the  Romanic  plan  and  framework. 
The  Gothic  style  was  first  followed,  in  its  entirety,  in  the  Castle  of 
the  German  Knights  at  Marienburg  in  Prussia,  founded  in  1280, 
which,  after  becoming  in  1309  the  residence  of  the  chief  of  the 
Order,  was  greatly  enlarged  and  embellished.  It  was  completed  in 
1382.  The  building  being  at  once  convent  and  palace,  its  chief  ar- 
chitectural importance  centred  in  the  cloistered  court  of  the  castle 
and  in  the  large  halls  of  other  parts  of  the  edifice.  Among  the 
latter  the  two-aisled  refectory,  with  three  tall  polygonal  piers  sup- 
porting vaults  with  fan -shaped  ribs,  is  one  of  the  most  attractive 
creations  of  the  secular  architecture  of  Germany  in  the  Gothic  pe- 
riod. Similar  mediaeval  castles  are  that  of  Marienwerder ;  that  of 
Heilsberg,  built  by  the  Bishop  of  Ermeland  about  1350;  that  of 

*  E.  Paulus,  Die  Cisterzienserabtei  Maulbronn.     Second  Edition.     Stuttgart,  1882. 


GERMANY.  563 

Karlstein  in  Bohemia,  built  by  the  Emperor  Charles  IV.  between 
1348  and  1357;  and,  finally,  the  Albrechtsburg  at  Meissen,  dating 
from  the  close  of  the  period  A.  D.  1471  to  1483,  and  recently 
restored. 

Greater  opportunities  for  artistic  elaboration  of  the  exterior 
were  given  by  the  town-halls — the  most  important  among  the  civic 
buildings.  The  facade  of  the  oldest  of  these,. the  so-called  Grashaus 
in  Aix-la-Chapelle,  built  in  the  second  half  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
retains  some  features  of  the  transitional  style.  Examples  of  purely 
Gothic  constructions  in  stone  are  the  older  parts  of  the  town-hall  of 
Ratisbon,  built  between  1320  and  1330,  noteworthy  for  their  pictu- 
resqueness ;  the  town-halls  of  Muenster  and  Lemgo  in  Westphalia, 
dating  from  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century;  that  of  Bruns- 
wick, begun  in  1393  ;  and  those  of  Basle,  Ulm,  Prague,  and  Breslau, 
all  referable  to  the  same  age.  The  imposing  tower  of  the  town-hall 
of  Cologne  was  built  in  the  fifteenth  century,  and  the  older  parts  of 
that  in  Nuremberg,  famed  for  the  beauty  and  richness  of  its  inner 
court,  are  even  as  late  as  the  close  of  the  Gothic  period.  The  town- 
halls  of  the  North  German  Lowlands,  built  of  brick,  often  of  va- 
rious colors,  are  particularly  interesting.  Mention  may  be  made  of 
those  of  Brandenburg,  Tangermuende,  Koenigsberg  in  the  Neumark, 
Bremen,  Lubeck,  and  Hanover. 

Prominent  among  the  civic  buildings  are  also  the  halls  for  mer- 
cantile purposes,  such,  for  instance,  as  the  Guerzenich  at  Cologne, 
and  the  Artushof  at  Dantzic  ;  the  latter  is  mainly  remarkable  for  its 
interior,  one  room  of  which  resembles  the  refectory  at  Marienburg. 
A  number  of  hospitals,  with  halls  of  like  character,  belong  to  this 
period ;  one  of  these  is  preserved  in  the  Hospital  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
at  Lubeck;  that  in  the  establishment  of  the  same  name  at  Munich, 
which  long  served  as  a  meat-market,  has  lately  been  torn  down  to 
make  way  for  a  new  building.  Reference  must  further  be  made  to 
the  Gothic  gate-ways,  the  oldest  of  which,  those  at  Cologne,  have 
already  been  mentioned.  They  are  sometimes  elaborately  deco- 
rated, as,  for  instance,  the  Spahlenthor  at  Basle ;  or  are  ornamented 
with  colored  tiles,  as  the  city  gates  of  Brandenburg,  Stendal,  and 
Tangermuende,  in  the  North  German  lowlands.  Similar  in  archi- 
tectural treatment  were  the  bridges,  fortified  by  towers  at  the  abut- 


564  THE   EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

ments  or  in  the  middle,  —  plain  and  massive  constructions,  with 
pointed  arches. 

The  private  dwellings,  finally,  gave  expression  to  the  growing 
prosperity  of  the  citizens  in  the  commercial  towns.  The  ground- 
floor  was  chiefly  occupied  by  magazines,  and  was  of  plain  and  solid 
construction,  occasionally  provided  with  open  arcades,  supported 
upon  piers  or  columns.  The  large  store-rooms  in  the  upper  stories 
required  lofty  and  steep  roofs,  the  gables  of  which  gave  opportu- 
nity for  an  independent  and  elaborate  memberment.  Otherwise 
the  decoration  was  mostly  limited  to  the  oriel -windows  at  half 
height,  these  often  being  the  only  ornament,  as  in  the  Parsonage  of 
St.  Sebaldus  in  Nuremberg.  The  Nassau  House  and  the  Play- 
house in  Nuremberg,  the  so-called  Stone  House  in  Frankfort,  and 
several  houses  at  Muenster  and  other  towns  of  Westphalia,  are 
among  the  most  interesting  mediaeval  dwellings  of  hewn  stone. 
The  variegated  brick  facades  in  the  towns  of  the  North  German 
lowlands  are  quite  as  picturesque,  as  are  also  the  constructions  of 
nogging  with  projecting  stories,  common  in  the  provinces  of  Saxo- 
ny, Hanover,  and  Brunswick.  In  the  last-named  buildings  the 
carvings  of  the  beams  and  struts  are  of  fine  effect ;  the  sculptured 
ornamentation  is  limited  to  these,  but  paintings  are  not  infrequently 
executed  upon  the  stucco  of  the  wall  surfaces. 

Although  Germany  had  received  the  Gothic  from  France  as  a 
fully -developed  style,  it  did  not  employ  it  as  an  established  and 
unalterable  system.  The  German  architects  at  first  attempted  to 
effect  a  compromise  between  the  Gothic  and  the  long-accustomed 
Romanic,  but,  having  once  shaken  off  the  old  traditions,  they  added 
new  and  original  traits  to  the  adopted  style.  In  cathedrals  the 
French  models  were  closely  followed ;  in  other  works,  however,  a 
variety  was  attained  rarely  to  be  found  even  in  that  country.  The 
restless  and  speculative  German  mind  has  continually  striven  after 
new  solutions  and  modes  of  expression,  its  pronounced  individual- 
ity seeking  for  peculiar  features.  No  nation  has  known  better  how 
to  adapt  itself  to  the  purposes  and  requirements  of  the  moment,  to 
conform  its  aspirations  to  the  given  means,  and  to  make  the  best  of 
the  materials  available.  Such  a  rational  and  even  prudent  treat- 
ment of  the  constructive  problems  in  no  wise  interfered  with  the 


ITALY.  565 

expression  of  artistic  ideas.  This  could  hardly  have  been  otherwise 
with  a  people  who  have  in  all  ages  been  famed  among  their  neigh- 
bors for  combining  acumen  and  clearness  of  thought  with  depth  of 
sentiment. 

ITALY. 

We  have  no  such  exact  historical  information  concerning  the  in- 
troduction of  the  Gothic  into  Italy*  as  in  regard  to  its  adoption  in 
England  and  Germany.  By  reason  of  the  various  and  involved  cir- 
cumstances which  the  new  style  encountered  south  of  the  Alps,  it 
was  forced  to  contend  with  a  complexity  of  traditions  such  as  it 
had  not  met  with  either  upon  English  or  German  soil.  Moreover, 
an  artistic  activity  of  the  greatest  extent  had  begun,  and  many  im- 
portant buildings  were  in  process  of  erection.  Only  in  exceptional 
cases  were  these  constructed  throughout  according  to  the  original 
plan,  which  was  often  so  disturbed  and  altered  by  hesitation  on  the 
side  of  the  architects,  and  by  protests  from  the  communities,  pa- 
trons, or  commissioners,  that,  even  when  outward  circumstances 
occasioned  no  delay,  the  work  sometimes  came  to  a  stand -still 
through  sheer  inability  to  overcome  these  obstacles.  The  new 
style  was  chiefly  employed  for  the  completion  of  buildings,  the 
original  design  of  which  had  been  entirely  different.  Moreover,  the 
most  various  elements,  basilical,  Byzantine,  and  Lombardic,  were 
promiscuously  intermingled  in  the  Italian  constructions,  and  ren- 
dered the  attainment  of  an  organic  unity  and  a  perfected  system 
more  difficult  in  this  country  than  in  any  other.  These  difficulties 
were  further  increased  by  the  fact  that  new  ideals,  tending  towards 
the  Renaissance,  were  already  making  themselves  felt.  Even  be- 
fore the  transition  from  the  Romanic  to  the  Gothic  was  completely 
effected,  that  to  the  Renaissance  began ;  this  justifies,  in  a  certain 
measure,  the  position  of  those  who  hold  that,  properly  speaking, 
there  never  was  an  Italian  Gothic  style. 


*  Compare  the  works  quoted  on  page  309.  Furthermore :  R.  Willis,  Remarks  on  the 
Architecture  of  the  Middle  Ages,  especially  of  Italy.  Cambridge,  1835. — F.  Lose  and 
L.  Gruner,  The  Terracotta  Architecture  of  North  Italy.  London,  1867. — G.  Rohault  de 
Fleury,  La  Toscane  au  Moyen-Age.  Paris,  1873. 


566 


THE   EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 


It  is  not  easy  to  give  dates  for  the  first  appearance  of  Gothic 
features  in  Italy,  and  it  is  almost  impossible  to  trace  the  manner 
of  their  introduction.  As  has  been  already  explained,  the  pointed 
arch  of  Sicilian  architecture  is  to  be  referred  to  Arabian  rather  than 
to  French  influences.  But  it  cannot  be  ascertained  whence  came 
the  pointed  arcades  and  arches  in  relief  which  early  appear  in  North 
Italy,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  Church  of  S.  Maria  at  Vezzolano  in 


Fig.  360. — Plan  of  S.  Andrea  at 
Vercelli. 


Fig.  361. — System  of  S.  Andrea 
at  Vercelli. 


Lombardy,  built  between  1150  and  1189.  It  may  be  assumed,  but 
cannot  be  definitely  proved,  that  .Burgundy,  .which,  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  eleventh  century,  had  been  affected  by  the  architectural 
methods  of  Upper  Italy, — instance  the  works  of  Dijon, — now,  in  its 
turn,  influenced  Italy  through  the  mediation  of  Cluny.  The  influ- 
ence of  the  Cistercian  convents, — themselves  dependent  upon  Bur- 
gundy,— is  more  assured,  it  being  evident  in  the  plans  and  eleva- 
tions of  the  Church  of  S.  Maria  d'Arbona  in  the  Abruzzi,  built  in 


ITALY.  567 

1208,  and  of  the  Church  of  the  Cistercians  in  Chiaravalle,  in  the  Mi- 
lanese district,  consecrated  in  1221.  Traces  of  it  are  also  to  be  ob- 
served in  the  plans  of  the  choirs  of  the  ecclesiastical  edifices  erected 
by  the  new  orders  of  the  Franciscans  and  Dominicans.  The  sys- 
tematic importation  of  the  style,  however,  is  as  little  proved  by  all 
these  features  as  by  various  documentary  evidences  bearing  upon 
the  question.  We  learn,  for  instance,  that  Cardinal  Jac.  Guala  Bi- 
chieri  called  an  English  architect  for  the  building  of  S.  Andrea  at 
Vercelli,  A.  D.  1219  to  1224  (Figs.  360  and  361);  but  this  does  not 
coincide  with  the  fact  that  the  edifice  is  entirely  Italian  and  Ro- 
manic on  the  exterior,  and  that  its  interior,  although  Gothic,  shows 
no  characteristics  peculiarly  English.  It  is  possible,  also,  that  a 
French  architect,  or  one  trained  in  France,  may  here  or  there  have 
been  employed,  though  of  this  there  is  no  historical  proof  anterior 
to  the  rule  of  the  dynasty  of  Anjou  in  Naples.  At  all  events,  it  i§ 
quite  as  incorrect  to  speak  of  a  French  importation  as  to  ascribe  to 
Germany  the  entire  introduction  of  the  Gothic  style  into  Italy, 
upon  the  ground  that  S.  Francesco  at  Assisi,  the  first  purely  Gothic 
church  of  that  country  of  which  the  date  is  accurately  known,  was 
built  by  a  German  architect. 

It  must  always  remain  an  open  question  whether  Jacobus  de 
Merania  (Meran),  whose  plan  was  adopted  in  the  competition  for 
the  design  of  S.  Francesco  at  Assisi  (Figs.  362  and  363),  was  himself 
trained  in  a  Lombardic  or  in  a  Cisalpine  school,  in  view  of  the  fact 
that,  upon  the  whole,  the  Southern  Tyrol  exhibits  quite  as  many 
Lombardic  as  national  or  German  traits.  Although  the  transition 
from  the  Romanic  to  the  Gothic  style  cannot  be  historically  traced 
in  Upper  Italy,  the  monuments  have  nevertheless  furnished  mate- 
rial which,  according  to  the  researches  of  Mothes,  are  sufficient  to 
warrant  the  assumption  of  a  somewhat  autochthonous  character  for 
the  Italian  Gothic.  The  pointed  arch,  long  customary  in  Sicily, 
naturally  came  to  be  employed  in  the  construction  of  vaults.  It 
was  especially  well  adapted  to  the  requirements  of  Italy,  where  tim- 
ber was  lacking,  inasmuch  as  one  of  the  great  practical  advantages 
of  pointed  vaults  lies  in  the  possibility  of  their  execution  with  light- 
er wooden  centrings. 

It  was  a  matter  of  the  utmost  importance  that  the  Franciscan 


568 


THE   EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 


order,  which  received  the  Papal  sanction  in  1215,  introduced  the 
new  style  into  one  of  its  first  churches, — even  as  the  Cistercians  had 
previously  adopted  a  particular  method  of  building  for  their  eccle- 
siastical edifices.  Still,  the  employment  of  the  Gothic  was  not 
exclusively  confined  to  the  Minorites.  The  natural  desire  thus 
outwardly  to  place  itself  in  opposition  to  the  older  monasteries, 
especially  in  regard  to  their  traditional  and  archaistic  institutions, 
conceptions,  and  methods  of  building,  was  similarly  felt  by  another 


Fig.  362. — Plan  of  S.  Francesco  at  Assisi. 


Fig.  363. — System  of  S.  Francesco 
at  Assisi. 


order,  which  arose  about  the  same  time.  This  was  the  society  of 
the  Dominicans,  also  founded  as  a  mendicant  order,  and  sanctioned 
in  1216.  We  find  them,  from  the  first,  pursuing  in  their  churches 
the  same  course  as  the  Franciscans,  and  in  a  measure  competing 
with  them.  Thus  two  important  Gothic  churches  of  these  orders 
were  erected  at  about  the  same  date,  before  S.  Francesco  at  Assisi 
had  been  entirely  completed,  A.D.  1253 — namely,  the  Church  of  the 
Minorites,  S.  Francesco  at  Bologna,  and  that  of  the  Dominicans, 


ITALY.  569 

S.  Giovanni  e  Paolo  at  Venice.  The  latter  of  these  has  been  proved 
by  modern  research  not  to  be  a  copy  of  the  Franciscan  Church  of 
S.  Maria  Gloriosa  ai  Frari  at  the  same  place,  begun  in  1250,  but  to 
have  been  founded  much  earlier.  It  appears  that  the  Dominicans 
accepted  the  innovation  with  greater  readiness,  and  practised  the 
Gothic  methods  more  exclusively,  than  did  their  rivals.  While,  in 
one  of  the  most  prominent  churches  of  the  Franciscans,  S.  Antonio 
in  Padua,  built  between  1232  and  1307,  a  certain  hesitation  is  evi- 


Fig.  364. — Plan  of  S.  Anastasia 
at  Verona. 


fi  i  i  M  ;  i  intt^p 

Fig.  365. — System  of  S.  Anastasia 
at  Verona. 


dent,  —  the  cupolas  in  the  main  aisles  being  similar  to  those  of 
St.  Mark,  and  a  transitional  character  being  retained  in  the  round 
arches,  —  the  Dominicans  consequentially  followed  the  principles 
which  they  had  adopted.  This  is  exemplified  by  the  magnificent 
Church  of  S.  Maria  Novella  in  Florence,  founded  in  1278;  by  the 
Convent  Church  of  S.  Maria  Sopra  Minerva  in  Rome,  begun  in 
1281;  by  several  structures  in  the  district  of  Venice;  and  by  the 
Church  of  S.  Anastasia  at  Verona,  begun  in  1290,  following  the 


570  THE   EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

precedent  of  S.  Giovanni  e  Paolo  (Figs.  364  and  365) ;  furthermore, 
by  S.  Agostino  in  Padua,  completed  in  1303,  and  torn  down  in  1822; 
and  by  S.  Niccolo  at  Trevigi,  A.  D.  1310  to  1352.  The  architects 
of  all  these  works  were  brethren  of  the  Dominican  order;  the  names 
of  two  have  been  handed  down — Fra  Sisto  and  Fra  Ristoro,  the  de- 
signers of  S.  Maria  Novella  and  S.  Maria  Sopra  Minerva.  The  one 
architect  among  the  Franciscans,  on  the  other  hand,  Philip  de  Cam- 
pello,  pupil  of  Jacobus  of  Meran,  who  completed  S.  Francesco  and 
erected  a  copy  of  it  in  S.  Chiara  at  Assisi,  entered  the  order  at  a 
later  date.  At  times,  even,  constructions  of  the  Minorites  were  car- 
ried out  under  the  superintendence  of  Dominicans ;  instance  S.  Ma- 
ria Gloriosa  at  Venice. 

The  architectural  productions  of  the;mendicant  orders  were  soon 
surpassed  by  those  of  the  laymen,  who  could  not  resist  the  influence 
of  the  new  style,  nor  fail  to  recognize  ,its  constructive  advantages 
and  its  suitability  for  ecclesiastical  edifices.  In  cathedrals,  especial- 
ly, the  traditions  were  retained  with  great  pertinacity,  it  being  felt 
necessary  to  conform  the  later  additions  to  the  older  parts  of  the 
structures.  Thus  those  portions  of  the  Cathedral  of  Viterbo  and  of 
that  in  Siena  which  date  fj-om  the  thirteenth  century  are  Romanic 
in  plan,  the  details  being  of  the  transitional  style.  It  was  only  after 
the  erection  of  the  smaller  Church  of  S.  Trinitk  in  Florence,  built 
about  1250  by  Niccolo  Pisano,  that  the  Gothic  style  began  to  be 
more  extensively  employed  for  cathedrals,  appearing  in  that  of 
Arezzo,  commenced  in  1277.  In  this  grand  work,  which  shows 
Northern  influences  in  a  far  greater  degree  than  do  the  before-men- 
tioned structures,  the  Gothic  style  was  finally -established,  exhibit- 
ing that  technical  perfection  which  is  to  be  attained  only  by  lay 
designers.  The  Franciscans,  therefore,  in  the  erection  of  their  enor- 
mous church,  S.  Croce,  in  Florence,  employed  Arnolfo  de  Cambio; 
an  architect  who  had  been  trained  in  the  school  of  Niccolo  Pisano, 
and  had  profited  by  the  experience  of  this  master  as  well  as  by  that 
of  Giovanni  Pisano,  the  latter  of  whom  was  the  designer  of  the 
Campo  Santo  at  Pisa,  A.  D.  1278  to  1283,  and  of  the  fagade  of  the 
Cathedral  of  Siena,  begun  in  1284.  Arnolfo's  extraordinary  ability, 
however,  was  chiefly  manifested  in  the  construction  of  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Florence  (Figs.  366  and  367),  which  was  undertaken  at  about 


ITALY. 


571- 


the  same  time  as  S.  Croce.     The  supremacy  of  the  Gothic  style,  at 
least  in  Northern  Italy,  was  determined  by  this  Florentine  edifice. 

Through  the  before-mentioned  monuments,  all  referable  to  the 
thirteenth  century,  a  peculiar  treatment  of  the  architectural  forms  of 
the  North  had  been  developed  in  Italy.  The  style  thus  determined 
is  known  as  the  Italian  Gothic.  It  is  to  be  remarked  that  the  ar- 
rangement of  plan  remained  almost  wholly  unaltered,  continuing 
basilical  or  Romanic.  Gothic  forms  were  combined  with  the  dom- 


Fig.  366. — Plan  of  the  Cathedral  of 
Florence. 


Fig.  367. — System  of  the  Cathedral 
of  Florence. 


ical  system  of  the  Byzantines,  the  cupolas  not  being  restricted,  as 
in  the  Romanic  style,  to  the  intersection  of  transept  and  nave, — 
instance  S.  Antonio  at  Padua.  In  Italy  there  is  scarcely  a  trace  of 
that  resolution  of  all  the  wall  surfaces  into  pillars,  or  of  that  exces- 
sive multiplication  of  the  vertical  members  so  characteristic  of  the 
Gothic  of  the  North.  On  the  contrary,  the  supports  of  the  nave 
were  diminished  in  number  and  placed  farther  apart,  the  open  and 
broad  effect  of  the  edifices  of  the  Italian  Gothic  contrasting  strik- 


572  THE   EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

ingly  with  the  high,  cramped  aisles  of  Northern  churches.  The 
enormous  interior  of  the  Cathedral  of  Florence  has  the  fewest  pos- 
sible supports.  The  termination  of  the  choir  by  surrounding  pas- 
sage and  radial  chapels  occurs  but  rarely.  Another  arrangement, 
first  introduced  by  the  Cistercians,  was  frequently  adopted,  especial- 
ly in  the  convent  churches  of  the  new  orders,  the  chapels  being 
disposed  on  either  side  of  the  choir,  and  along  the  eastern  wall  of 
the  transept.  In  S.  Croce  at  Florence  two  of  these  chapels  are 
open  towards  the  nave  and  are  placed  beside  the  choir,  which  is 
considerably  diminished  in  width. 

In  regard  to  the  elevation,  the  walls  of  the  nave  are  supported 
either  upon  columns  or  upon  polygonal  or  membered  piers;  the 
arches  are  of  wide  span,  and  are  so  high  that  the  side  aisles  became 
nearly  as  high  as  the  nave.  Galleries  and  triforiums  thus  became 
impossible,  and  in  the  nave  there  usually  remained  space  sufficient 
only  for  the  introduction  of  small,  round  windows.  Even  in  those 
cases  where  the  dimensions  permitted  the  adoption  of  pointed  win- 
dows, these  do  not  so  completely  perforate  the  wall  surfaces  of  the 
clerestory  as  do  those  of  the  North,  but  are  restricted  to  narrow 
apertures,  generally  grouped  in  couples.  They  are  of  the  same  form 
in  the  side  aisles,  where  they  are  not  unfrequently  omitted  alto- 
gether, in  order  to  leave  the  greatest  possible  space  for  stately 
altars  and  funeral  monuments.  The  relative  importance  of  these 
furnishings,  owing  to  the  scant  memberment  of  the  walls,  is  such 
that  the  entire  appearance  of  the  interior  is  dependent  upon  them, 
the  building  itself  often  giving  the  impression  of  an  unpretentious 
shrine  erected  for  their  reception.  Where  the  sculptured  details  of 
these  accessaries  did  not  suffice  for  the  decorative  effect,  mural 
paintings  were  introduced.  It  is  characteristic  of  this  treatment 
that,  while  in  the  North  the  painted  decorations  customary  during 
the  early  Christian  and  Romanic  periods  were  rendered  impossible 
by  the  extensive  architectural  memberment  of  the  Gothic,  in  Italy 
the  revival  of  wall-painting  made  its  first  appearance  in  the  earliest 
Gothic  building,  the  Church  of  S.  Francesco  at  Assisi,  and  developed 
its  great  extent  and  magnificence  in  the  subsequent  monuments  of 
that  style.  Such  an  ornamentation  could  not  entirely  compensate 
for  the  bareness  of  the  structure,  and  especially  for  the  insignifi- 


ITALY.  573 

cance  of  the  windows ;  still,  this  combining  of  architecture,  sculpt- 
ure, and  painting  to  form  a  harmonious  unity,  while  maintaining  the 
independence  of  each,  has  its  undeniable  advantages. 

The  ceilings,  also,  are  of  the  utmost  simplicity.  The  vaults  are 
limited  to  the  most  necessary  transverse  ribs,  excepting  in  those 
cases  where  the  basilical  wooden  ceiling  is  retained, — as  in  S.  Croce 
at  Florence,  in  which  a  simple  wooden  gallery  takes  the  place  of  the 
triforium,  —  or  a  kind  of  barrel-vault  formed  of  wooden  panels,  is 
employed,  as  in  S.  Fermo  at  Verona.  The  more  elaborate  varieties, 
the  stellar,  reticulate,  and  fan -shaped  vaults,  are  quite  unknown. 
When  diagonal  ribs  are  introduced  they  stand  in  no  organic  con- 
nection with  the  supports,  as  in  France  and  Germany.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  immense  span  of  the  vaults  is  astonishing,  and  is 
rendered  most  impressive  by  the  small  number  of  supports.  This 
effect  is  not  disturbed  by  the  comparatively  low  proportions,  the 
height  of  the  nave  being,  on  an  average,  only  one  and  a  half  times 
its  width,  and  thus  contrasting  with  the  French  cathedrals,  where 
the  relation  is  as  three  to  one.  The  Italian  Gothic,  though  certainly 
not  equal  to  the  French,  in  organic  unity  of  construction  and  detail, 
surpasses  that  of  all  the  Cisalpine  countries  in  the  spaciousness  of 
the  interior.  The  length,  width,  and  height  are  well  proportioned, 
neither  of  these  dimensions  being  unduly  predominant.  In  admir- 
ing the  grand  effect  of  the  long  perspectives  and  the  aspiring  height 
of  the  French  and  German  cathedrals,  one  is  apt  to  forget  that 
these  structures  are  too  long,  and  especially  too  high,  in  proportion 
to  their  width.  In  the  English  cathedrals  height  and  width  are 
well  balanced,  but  the  length  is  out  of  all  measure,  although  this  is 
somewhat  relieved  by  the  intervention  of  the  rood-screen,  invariably 
introduced.  That  the  buildings  of  the  Italian  Gothic  are  commonly 
held  to  be  too  broad  by  the  English,  and  too  broad  and  too  low  by 
the  French  and  Germans,  does  not  actually  prove  a  want  of  harmony 
in  the  dimensions ;  the  error  of  these  judgments  may  be  accounted 
for  by  the  fact  that  the  eye  of  the  observer  is  prejudiced  through 
being  long  accustomed  to  the  proportions  of  native  architecture. 

Less  praise  is  to  be  bestowed  upon  the  exterior.  The  introduc- 
tion of  pilaster  strips  in  place  of  abutments,  and  the  consequent 
omission  of  flying  buttresses  was  indeed  no  disadvantage.  The 


574  THE   EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

thick  walls  did  not  require  any  further  strengthening,  and  flying 
buttresses  were  rendered  unnecessary  by  the  low  elevation  of  the 
nave  and  the  slight  side-thrust  of  the  comparatively  flat  roof.  But, 
after  these  constructive  features  had  once  been  given  up,  it  was  a 
mistake  to  preserve  their  ornamental  details  by  placing  finials,  point- 
ed gables,  etc.,  above  windows  and  cornices,  without  regard  to  their 
real  signification  as  terminations  of  vertical  members.  The  windows 
were  surrounded  by  a  delicate  and  graceful  decoration,  not  alto- 
gether in  harmony  with  the  style,  while  the  walls  were  reveted  with 
slabs  of  colored  marble,  arranged  either  in  horizontal  courses  or  in 
patterns  entirely  foreign  to  the  Gothic. 

It  is  plain  that  the  details  were  not  considered  as  growing  out  of 
the  construction,  and  being  inseparably  connected  with  it,  but  were 
treated  as  a  mantle  by  which  the  naked  body  of  the  edifice  was 
decked..  This  is  most  evident  in  the  fa9ades,  which  have  the  ap- 
pearance of  independent  screens,  erected  for  show,  before  the  end 
wall,  itself  so  bare  of  constructive  memberment.  The  longitudinal 
walls  were  indicated  upon  the  exterior  by  piers  crowned  with  finials. 
But,  in  general,  neither  the  height  of  the  aisles  nor  the  lines  of  their 
roofing  were  regarded ;  the  ornamented  fagade  not  only  projected 
above  them,  but  ended  in  three  pointed  gables,  in  entire  disaccord 
with  the  lean-to  roofs  of  the  side  aisles.  In  portals  and  windows  a 
combination  of  round  and  pointed  forms  was  employed  by  prefer- 
ence, both  being  ornamented  with  gablets  and  pinnacles,  while  the 
remaining  wall  surfaces  were  literally  covered  with  sculptured  and 
•painted  decorations.  The  tower  was  not  immediately  connected 
•with  the  fagade,  as  in  the  North,  but  preserved  its  traditional  isola- 
tion;  it  was  as  flat -roofed  and  as  little  diminished  as  in  former 
times.  While  in  Germany  and  France  the  creative  energy  gener- 
ally relaxed  during  the  erection  of  the  towers,  in  Italy  this. was  the 
'case  during  the  completion  of  the  fagades.  Still,  the  fronts  of  the 
cathedrals  of  Siena  and  Orvieto  (Fig.  368)  are  fine  examples,  the 
•former  being  decorated  with  sculpture,  the  latter  in  color,  chiefly 
mosaics.  Both  of  these  are  far  superior  to  the  fagades  completed 
at  a  later  date,  whether  in  the  period  of  the  early  Renaissance,  like 
that  of  S.  Maria  Novella,  designed  by  Alberti,  or  in  more  modern 
-times, -like  those  of  S.  Croce  and  the  Cathedral  of  Florence. 


ITALY. 


575 


As  sculptors  and  painters,  such  as  Niccolo  and  Giovanni  Pisano, 
.Giotto  and  Orcagna,  also  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  development 
of  architecture,  it  was  not  strange  that  the  contrast  between  the 
constructive  and  decorative  features,  noticeable  in  Italy  even  in  the 
Romanic  .epoch,  was  emphasized,  while  the  ornamental  details  be- 


Fig.  368. — Facade  'of  the  Cathedral  of  Orvieto. 

came  more  and  more  independent  works  of  sculpture  and  painting. 
The  interior  of  the  churches  seemed  created  for  the  reception  of 
imposing  monuments,  statuary,  and  paintings;  and,  in  like  manner, 
the  exterior  was  adorned  with  many  works  in  relief  and  in  color, 
the  architectural  details  being  inorganic  and  not  altogether  in  ac- 


5/6  THE   EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

cordance  with  Gothic  principles.  A  comparison  between,  on  the 
one  hand,  the  exteriors  of  the  Cathedral  and  the  Campanile  at  Pisa, 
and  of  the  baptisteries  at  Pisa  and  Florence, —  and,  on  the  other, 
the  exteriors  of  the  Cathedral  and  Campanile  of  Florence  and  the 
fagades  of  Siena  and  Orvieto, — clearly  shows  the  predominance  of 
the  architectural  features  in  the  former  examples,  and  of  the  painted 
and  sculptured  decorations  in  the  latter.  This  relation  is  every- 
where apparent,  though  not  always  to  the  extent  observable  in 
the  fa9ade  of  Siena,  erected  under  the  superintendence  of  a  sculp- 
tor, Giovanni  Pisano,  or  in  the  Campanile  of  Florence,  designed  by 
a  painter,  Giotto. 

It  was  not,  however,  owing  to  these  tendencies  alone  that  the 
Gothic  style  failed  to  attain  a  consequential  development  in  Italy. 
It  was,  upon  the  whole,  as  perfect  in  the  first  constructions  of  the 
Franciscans  and  Dominicans,  and  in  the  cathedrals  of  Arezzo  and 
Florence,  as  in  the  later  edifices.  The  Italian  builders  could  not 
free  themselves  from  their  deeply -rooted  native  conceptions,  and 
more  especially  from  the  Romanic  traditions.  Elements  of  this 
earlier  style  were  introduced  into  the  arches,  the  vaults,  and  even 
the  details,  whenever  they  were  considered  of  good  effect.  The 
fagade  of  the  transept  of  the  Cathedral  of  Cremona,  begun  in  1288, 
is  an  arbitrary  combination  of  Romanic  and  Gothic  features,  disposed 
with  regard  to  picturesque  effect  rather  than  a  rational  construction. 
This  treatment  prevailed  throughout  the  fourteenth  century,  appear- 
ing, for  instance,  in  the  choir  of  the  Cathedral  of  Lucca  (Fig.  369), 
built  between  1308  and  1320,  and  in  the  nave  of  the  same  church, 
dating  from  the  next  following  decades.  The  only  building  which 
seems  to  have  had  a  decisive  influence  is  the  Cathedral  of  Florence, 
the  work  of  Arnolfo  di  Cambio.  Reminiscences  of  it  appear  in  the 
neighboring  Chapel  of  Or  San  Michele,  A.  D.  1337  to  1360,  which 
is  said  to  have  been  commenced  by  Taddeo  Gaddi,  and  was  com- 
pleted by  Orcagna ;  also  in  the  Loggia  dei  Lanzi  at  Florence,  which 
was  designed  in  1356  but  not  begun  until  1376,  this  date  proving 
that  nothing  more  than  the  plan  of  the  latter  building  can  be  as- 
cribed to  Orcagna. 

The  influence  of  Arnolfo's  work  is  not  seen  alone  in  the  produc- 
tions of  Florentine  masters,  but  can  be  traced  in  distant  towns, 


ITALY. 


577 


where  there  is  no  documentary  proof  of  any  connection  with  his 
school.  An  instance  of  this  is  the  Cathedral  of  Bologna,  S.  Petronio, 
designed  by  Antonio  di  Vicenzo  (Fig.  370).  This  building,  which 
was  intended  to  be  the  largest  church  of  the  period,  is  scarcely  more 
than  half  completed.  It  was  begun  in  1390,  and  the  vaults  of  the 
nave  are  as  late  as  1580,  the  system  of  the  Florentine  cathedral 
being  thus  continued,  without  essential  improvement,  until  late  in 


-TWr. 


Fig.  369. — System  of  the  Cathedral 
of  Lucca. 


Fig.  370. — System  of  the  Cathedral  of 
Bologna. 


the  sixteenth  century.  The  retention  of  Romanic  arrangements  and 
details  is  at  times  more  evident  than  it  was  during  preceding  ages. 
S.  Maria  del  Carmine  at  Pavia,  founded  in  1373,  not  only  follows  in 
its  plan  the  transitional  style  of  the  Cistercian  constructions,  but 
even  adopts  the  Romanic  cube  capital  for  the  boltels.  In  compar- 
ing this  church  with  that  of  S.  Andrea  at  Vercelli,  built  more  than 
a  century  and  a  half  before,  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  there  is 
more  of  the  purely  Gothic  element  in  the  earlier  than  in  the  later 

37 


578  THE   EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

structure.  The  Gothic  style  was  not  adapted  to  the  architectural 
conceptions  of  Italy.  Having  paid  its  tribute  to  the  fashion  of  the 
age,  that  country  seemed  to  incline  rather  towards  a  retrograde 
movement,  —  a  return  to  previous  methods,  —  than  towards  any 
further  development  of  the  French  system. 

A  full  and  exclusive  adoption  of  Gothic  principles  does  not 
appear,  even  in  those  cases  when  the  influence  of  the  North  was 
dominant,  as  in  the  Cathedral  of  Milan,  begun  in  1386.  The  found- 
er of  this  building,  Giovanni  Galeazzo  Visconti,  favored  the  choice 
of  Northern  models,  his  political  principles  also  inclining  towards 
those  of  the  North.  Even  for  the  design  of  the  original  plan  he 
employed  a  Cisalpine  architect,  whose  name  is  unknown.  After  this 
follow  in  rapid  succession  the  names  of  Nic.  Bonaventura  of  Paris, 
Master  Henry  of  Gmuend,  as  early  as  1391,  Ulrich  of  Fuesingen 
(Fuessen),  Jean  Mignoth,  a  Frenchman,  James  Cova  of  Bruges,  and 
John  Campomosi  of  Normandy,  all  of  whom  were  intrusted  with 
the  superintendence  of  the  work.  An  entire  century  later,  a  Ger- 
man, John  of  Gratz,  was  called  as  architect,  A.  D.  1483.  But  these 
foreign  designers  did  not  succeed  in  fully  introducing  the  Northern 
system,  in  opposition  to  the  desires  of  the  building  committee.  The 
Italians  would  neither  give  up  the  breadth  of  space,  nor  permit  a 
greater  elevation  of  the  nave  and  the  consequent  elaboration  of  the 
windows.  This  magnificent  marble  building  must  be  regarded  as  a 
not  altogether  successful  Italian  version  of  the  Gothic  cathedral 
style  of  the  North.  Its  exterior  by  no  means  compensates  for  the 
lack  of  that  organic  development  which  is  the  chief  attraction  of 
the  Cisalpine  edifices.  It  seems  that  this  attempt  at  foreign  im- 
portation was  a  disappointment  even  to  the  princely  founder,  for  in 
the  construction  of  the  Certosa  at  Pavia,  A.  D.  1396,  Galeazzo  return- 
ed to  the  national  methods.  At  the  foot  of  the  Alps  there  was  still 
less  inclination  to  accept  Northern  influences  in  the  Gothic  epoch 
than  there  had  been  during  the  Romanic.  This  is  exemplified  in 
Verona  by  the  cathedral,  and  the  churches  of  S.  Anastasia  and  S. 
Fermo ;  and  particularly  in  Como,  where  the  Romanic  basilica  S. 
Abondio  was  closely  related  to  German  edifices,  while  the  Gothic 
cathedrals,  restored  at  the  time  of  the  construction  of  the  Certosa, 
exclusively  followed  native  methods. 


ITALY.  579 

The  importation  from  France  was  more  important  in  Lower 
Italy,  where  the  ruler  was  a  French  prince.  It  seems  that  even 
here  an  attempt  was  made  to  combine  Gothic  elements  with  the 
various  older  traditions  resulting  from  the  occupation  of  the  coun- 
try by  foreign  invaders,  the  Byzantines,  Arabs,  and  Normans.  Such 
crude  amalgamation  as  appears  in  the  Cloister  of  S.  Domenico  at 
Salerno,  and  in  that  of  the  Convent  of  the  Capuchins  at  Amalfi,  or 
the  Palazzo  Ruffolo  at  Ravello,  was  altogether  unsatisfactory. 
Charles  I.  of  Anjou,  A.  D.  1268  to  1285,  called  his  architects  from 
France,  and  his  example  was  followed  not  only  by  the  French  bar- 
ons but  by  the  native  nobles.  The  French  system  was  adopted  for 
the  churches  as  well  as  the  castles.  This  is  unmistakably  shown  by 
the  Cathedral  and  the  Church  of  S.  Domenico  at  Naples,  as  well  as 
by  several  other  churches  of  this  city;  also  by  S.  Angelo  on  Mount 
Gargano,  and  S.  Caterina  in  Otranto.  Records  show  the  case  to 
have  been  the  same  with  a  number  of  buildings  since  destroyed. 
Sicily  was  less  affected  by  the  French  methods,  the  combination 
which  has  before  been  described  being  continued  even  after  the 
Sicilian  vespers,  A.  D.  1282.  In  the  fourteenth  century  the  political 
relations  of  the  island  to  Pisa  and  to  Tuscany  introduced  into  Pa- 
lermo some  architectural  influences  from  the  banks  of  the  Arno,  but 
the  native  energy  of  Sicily  was  by  this  time  too  much  exhausted 
for  any  artistic  activity  of  importance. 

While  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  ecclesiastical  edifices  of 
Italy  during  the  Gothic  period  often  betray  a  certain  irregularity 
of  design  and  want  of  logical  consequence  in  point  of  style,  it  is,  on 
the  other  hand,  no  less  true  that  this  very  freedom  led  to  excellent 
results  in  other  buildings.  The  enclosure  of  the  Campo  Santo,  at 
Pisa,  designed  by  Giovanni  Pisano,  is  greatly  superior  to  all  French 
and  German  structures  of  the  kind ;  and  the  secular  buildings  of 
Italy  meet  the  practical  and  aesthetic  requirements,  in  regard  to  the 
arrangement  of  plan,  artistic  composition,  and  decoration,  far  better 
than  do  those  north  of  the  Alps.  For  such  tasks  the  unhampered 
Gothic  of  Italy  was  better  adapted  than  was  the  style  of  the  North- 
ern countries,  which  had  been  so  exclusively  developed  in  the  con- 
struction of  cathedrals.  It  is,  moreover,  to  be  borne  in  mind  that 
the  municipal  organization  of  the  mediaeval  Italians  gave  opportu- 


580  THE   EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

nity  for  the  erection  of  more  numerous  civic  monuments  than  were 
required  by  the  French,  or  even  by  the  burghers  of  the  German  free 
cities. 

In  the  higher  municipalities  of  Italy  two  governing  bodies  ex- 
isted side  by  side — the  podesta  and  the  council.  Palatial  edifices 
were  required  for  both  ;  those  of  the  former  having  somewhat  the 
character  of  fortifications  and  dwellings,  while  in  those  of  the  latter 
open  and  spacious  halls  predominated.  The  first  class  consequently 
led  to  the  development  of  magnificent  interior  courts;  the  latter  to 
imposing  facades.  Fine  examples  of  both  varieties  are  to  be  found 
in  the  cities  of  Tuscany:  Florence,  Pistoja,  Siena,  Pisa,  Orvieto, 
Viterbo,  Perugia;  as  well  as  those  of  Lombardy:  Milan,  Como, 
Monza,  Brescia,  Bergamo,  Cremona,  Piacenza,  and  others.  They  are 
all  of  that  massive  and  defiant,  even  domineering,  character,  peculiar 
to  the  Italian  towns  of  that  age,  especially  to  those  of  the  districts 
before  mentioned.  They  have  almost  the  appearance  of  fortifica- 
tions :  in  the  arcades  of  the  lower  story,  supported  upon  piers,  in 
the  projecting  battlements,  resting  upon  heavy  brackets,  and  in  the 
armor -like  revetment  of  ashlar  stones,  often  with  rustic  bosses. 
Still,  they  have  not  the  forbidding  and  secluded  character  of  the 
feudal  castles  of  the  North,  and  their  light  towers,  often  rising  di- 
rectly from  the  main  cornice,  —  instance  the  Palazzo  Vecchio  at 
Florence,  —  are  more  attractive  than  are  the  clumsy  barbacans  of 
France  and  Germany.  The  broad  windows  are  frequently  bordered 
by  elegant  and  graceful  decorations,  which  improve  the  effect  of  the 
entire  structure,  and  give  that  pleasing  impression  always  resulting 
from  the  combination  of  delicacy  and  refinement  with  massive  pow- 
er. The  proud  magnificence  of  these  buildings  is  equalled  by  the 
beauty  of  their  proportions  and  by  the  simplicity  of  their  arrange- 
ment, the  practical  requirements  being  entirely  fulfilled  without  that 
subordination  of  the  general  design  to  the  irregularities  of  the  site 
which  is  often  so  unpleasantly  felt  in  the  secular  edifices  of  the 
North.  From  the  Palazzo  Publico  at  Piacenza,  A.  D.  1281,  to  the 
two  lower  stories  of  the  Palace  of  the  Doges  at  Venice,  referable  to 
the  fourteenth  century,  many  splendid  structures  of  the  kind  still 
form  the  pride  of  the  municipalities  of  Northern  Italy.  Not  less 
interesting  are  the  open  colonnades,  intended  for  assemblages  of 


ITALY. 


the  populace,  for  tribunes,  or  for  mercantile  purposes,  among  which 
the  Loggia  dei  Lanzi  at  Florence  is  typical.  And  a  similar  artistic 
importance  is  attached  to  the  halls  of  the  guilds,  and  even  to  those 
of  benevolent  societies,  such  as  the  Bigallo  at  Florence. 

Scarcely  less  important  are  the  dwellings  of  the  nobles  and 
wealthy  citizens.  Siena,  for  instance,  possesses  a  great  number  of 
imposing  palaces,  not  only 
grouped  around  the  chief 
square  of  the  city,  near  the 
Town  Hall,  but  in  the  thor- 
oughfares and  even  the  nar- 
rowest streets  (Fig-  37  1). 
Examples  are  to  be  found 
in  the  smallest  towns.  Pa- 
latial dwellings  are,  howev- 
er, most  frequent  in  Venice, 
where  a  character  of  great 
individuality  was  developed 
in  the  fagades,  the  scant 
ground  available  for  build- 
ing having  led  to  a  cramped 
arrangement  of  the  courts. 
Moreover,  the  attractions  of 
the  lagoons  and  canals  in- 
duced the  citizens  to  place 
the  chief  rooms  towards  the 
front,  where  the  artistic  dec- 
oration was  thus  naturally 
concentrated.  The  great 
depth  of  the  buildings  ren- 

dered large  and  numerous  windows  necessary,  and  led  to  the  adop- 
tion of  a  peculiar  system  of  tracery  by  which  the  apertures  were 
multiplied.  A  similar  method  of  design  has  been  noticed  in  the 
cloisters  and  palaces  of  Southern  Italy,  but  the  great  advance  in  the 
north  of  that  country  is  evinced  by  a  comparison  of  the  clumsiness 
and  rudeness  of  Campanian  structures  with  the  perfect  proportions 
and  elegant  refinement  of  Venetian  fagades.  The  culture  of  North- 
ern Italy  was  of  the  greatest  promise  for  the  future. 


Fig.  371. — Street  View  in  Siena. 


582  THE   EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

SPAIN. 

The  remaining  countries  of  the  Occident  were  less  independent 
in  regard  to  the  Gothic  style.  A  certain  degree  of  receptiveness 
in  this  respect  is  everywhere  observable,  and  a  higher  architectural 
development  takes  the  place  of  the  former  rudeness  and  helpless- 
ness; but  the  beginnings  were  always  due  to  the  influence  of  foreign 
designers,  and  it  was  long  before  the  native  artisans  had  attained 
sufficient  training  to  carry  on  the  work  without  such  assistance. 
France  and  Germany  provided  the  masters, — the  former  for  Spain 
and  the  Western  Netherlands,  Germany  for  the  countries  bordering 
it  on  the  north  and  east. 

Christian  Spain,  after  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
no  longer  stood  so  entirely  in  an  attitude  of  defence.  The  Christian 
kings,  who  had  hitherto  but  rarely  been  united,  rose  against  their 
Moorish  enemies  with  one  accord,  defeating  them  in  the  battle  of 
Las  Navas  de  Tolosa,  A.  D.  1212.  The  Moors  were  finally  reduced 
to  the  territory  of  Granada,  under  the  glorious  reign  of  Ferdinand 
III.  the  Holy,  between  1217  and  1252,  who  in  1230  united  the  king- 
doms of  Leon  and  Castile,  and  conquered  Cordova  in  1236,  Murcia 
in  1241,  and  Seville  in  1248.  The  piety  of  this  king,  the  gratitude 
for  great  victories  and  the  rich  booty,  combined  in  exciting  and 
furthering  the  desire  to  emulate  France  in  the  construction  of  cathe- 
drals. The  development  of  the  French  Gothic,  which  under  Fer- 
dinand's contemporary,  St.  Louis  IX.,  had  attained  its  greatest 
height,  naturally  exerted  an  important  influence  in  Spain,  especially 
as  the  Holy  War  had  brought  troops  of  French  knights,  with  many 
followers,  from  beyond  the  Pyrenees.  The  Spanish  kings,  by  their 
personal  qualities  as  well  as  by  their  military  successes,  commanded 
the  respect  of  the  entire  Occident,  and  took  equal  rank  with  the 
rulers  of  France  and  Germany,  so  that  not  only  was  the  throne  of 
Castile  graced  by  French  and  German  princesses,  but  Spanish  kings 
were  considered  eligible  to  the  imperial  power  of  the  Western 
Empire. 

At  the  close  of  the  twelfth  century  transitional  forms  had  occa- 
sionally been  employed  side  by  side  with  the  Romanic.  The  cathe- 
drals of  Salamanca,  Zamora,  and  Siguenza,  the  Church  of  S.  Vicente 


SPAIN. 


583 


and  others  of  Avila  (Fig.  372),  and  even  the  Cathedral  of  Lerida, 
built  between  1203  and  1278,  belong  to  this  class.  It  seems  to  have 
been  due  to  the  personal  influence  of  Ferdinand  III.  that  through 
the  construction  of  the  cathedrals  of  Burgos  and  Toledo  the  Gothic 
style  became  universally  predominant  in  Spain,  being,  even  in  its  first 
appearance,  as  perfect  as  in  the  contemporary  edifices  of  France. 
The  design  of  the  two  structures  is  referable  to  about  the  same  pe- 
riod, the  Cathedral  of  Burgos  having  been  founded  in  1221,  that  of 
Toledo  in  1227  ;  but  the  latter  was  completed  in  a  shorter  time,  and 
hence  has  a  unity  of  composition  not  possessed  by  that  of  Burgos, 
even  before  the  construction  of  its  cupola  in  1539.  The  imposing 


Fig.  372. — Plan  of  S.  Vicente  at  Avila. 

five-aisled  Cathedral  of  Toledo,  in  plan  an  imitation  of  Notre-Dame 
of  Paris,  is  113  m.  in  length  and  57  m.  in  breadth,  while  the  height 
of  the  nave  is  45  m.,  the  building  thus  covering  an  area  far  greater 
than  that  of  the  largest  French  churches.  The  greater  elevation  of 
the  inner  side  aisles  rendered  the  introduction  of  galleries  in  the 
nave  impossible,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  admitted  of  triforiums  and 
windows  in  these  aisles  as  well  as  in  the  nave.  This  arrangement  pro- 
vided an  exceptional  number  of  apertures  for  lighting  the  grand  in- 
terior,— the  vaults  of  which  are  supported  upon  eighty-eight  piers, — 
and,  though  somewhat  at  the  expense  of  the  nave,  produced  a  har- 
mony of  the  whole  not  attained  by  the  Cathedral  of  Paris  with  its 
gloomy  side  aisles.  The  unity  of  style  is  slightly  disturbed  by  the 


584  THE   EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

Moorish  cusped  arches  of  the  triforiums,  which  the  architect  may 
have  introduced  from  a  respect  for  the  traditions  of  the  ancient 
town  of  the  Moslems  (Fig.  373)-  The  irregularity  of  the  ground  and 
the  narrowness  of  the  space  impair,  in  some  degree,  the  effect  of 
the  exterior,  at  least  upon  a  nearer  view,  so  that  in  this  regard  the 
much  smaller  Cathedral  of  Burgos  is  more  imposing  as  well  as  more 
pleasing.  Its  magnificent  facade,  with  two  towers,  is  one  of  the 


Fig.  373- — View  of  the  Choir  of  the  Cathedral  of  Toledo. 

finest  examples  among  the  few  works  of  the  kind  which  have  been 
completed. 

Although,  after  the  death  of  Alphonso  the  Wise,  son  of  Ferdi- 
nand III.,  A.  D.  1284,  the  prosperity  of  Spain  somewhat  declined, 
the  works  begun  during  his  reign  and  that  of  his  father  were  contin- 
ued in  the  fourteenth  century,  and  new  constructions  of  importance 
were  undertaken  even  in  the  fifteenth.  Foremost  amcne  the  earlier 


SPAIN.  585 

group  is  the  Cathedral  of  Leon,  the  plan  of  which  resembles  the 
French  models  even  more  closely  than  do  those  of  Burgos  and  To- 
ledo. A  difference  appears,  however,  in  the  disposition  of  the  fa- 
^ade,  and  throughout  the  building  there  is  a  certain  lack  of  unity  in 
the  design,  the  slender  clustered  supports  and  the  elaborate  win- 
dows of  the  nave  dating  from  a  comparatively  late  period.  To  the 
same  class  belongs  the  fine  Cathedral  of  Barcelona,  begun  in  the 
thirteenth  century  and  completed  in  the  course  of  the  fourteenth, 
with  the  exception  of  the  still  unfinished  cupola.  The  Cathedral  of 
Valencia,  founded  in  1262,  is  referable  to  the  same  period.  One 
Juan  Franck,  who  in  the  fourteenth  century  was  intrusted  with  the 
direction  of  the  work,  might  be  taken  for  a  native  of  the  Nether- 
lands, were  it  not  that  the  traceries  of  the  northern  fagade  and  of 
the  cupola  tower  clearly  betray  German  characteristics. 

Among  the  new  constructions  begun  during  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury, the  choir  of  the  Cathedral  of  Gerona,  built  between  1312  and 
1346,  closely  follows  that  of  the  Cathedral  of  Barcelona.  The  gen- 
eral effect,  however,  was  here  entirely  altered  by  the  arrangement 
of  the  nave,  which,  equal  in  width  to  the  choir,  was  rendered  un- 
pleasantly bare  by  the  combination  of  the  three  aisles  into  one,  the 
vault  thus  becoming  of  exceptionally  great  span.  This  may  possi- 
bly have  been  suggested  by  the  Cathedral  of  Alby,  in  which  a  single 
aisle  had  resulted  from  the  employment  of  the  buttresses  for  barrel- 
vaulted  side  chapels.  At  all  events,  it  cannot  be  assumed  that  the 
churches  with  equal  aisles,  frequent  in  Northern  Spain,  —  instance 
S.  Maria  at  Tolosa,  —  were  developed  in  imitation  of  the  French 
Cathedral  of  Poitiers,  as  their  round  supports  and  stellar  vaults 
exhibit  the  influence  rather  of  Germany  or  of  the  Netherlands. 
The  Cathedral  of  Saragossa  also  has  the  system  of  equal  aisles,  com- 
bined with  elaborate  reticulate  vaults,  and  a  preference  for  both 
these  forms  can  be  traced  even  as  far  as  the  Balearic  Islands. 

The  largest  Gothic  cathedral  of  Spain,  that  of  Seville,  was  built 
in  the  fifteenth  century.  After  the  town  had  been  taken  by  the 
Moslems,  its  early  Christian  cathedral  had  been  transformed  into  a 
mosque  and  greatly  enlarged.  King  Ferdinand,  who  reconquered 
Seville  and  gave  back  the  church  to  Christian  worship,  thought  as 
little  of  reconstructing  the  building  as  he  had  that  of  Cordova, 


586  THE    EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

where,  as  late  as  1523,  the  Gothic  choir  was  so  incongruously  added 
to  the  Moorish  hall.  In  the  year  1401,  however,  the  Chapter  of 
Seville  resolved  to  demolish  the  mosque,  excepting  only  the  Court 
of  the  Oranges  and  the  minaret, — the  Giralda, — and  to  erect  upon 
the  site  a  magnificent  Gothic  cathedral,  which,  like  the  Mosque  of 
Abderrahman  at  Cordova,  should  surpass  all  other  structures  of  the 
kind  in  extent  and  grandeur.  This  gigantic  work,  198  m.  long  and 
79  m.  broad,  exceeds  the  dimensions  of  the  cathedrals  of  Toledo 
and  Cologne,  but  does  not  equal  these  edifices  in  artistic  signifi- 
cance. The  size  of  the  building  caused  its  completion  to  be  de- 
layed into  the  sixteenth  century,  and  the  termination  of  the  choir, 
as  well  as  the  details  of  the  upper  part  of  the  structure,  show  the 
forms  of  the  Renaissance.  Still,  the  interior  is  not  without  unity  of 
effect,  the  piers  being  of  the  same  form  in  all  the  five  aisles,  and  the 
tracery  rendered  harmonious  by  the  general  adoption  of  the  French 
flamboyant  style. 

The  dimensions  of  this  grand  work  prevented  that  excess  of  or- 
namentation which  is  characteristic  of  the  later  Gothic  of  Spain,  and 
is  especially  noticeable  in  the  smaller  churches.  Spain  in  this  re- 
spect followed  the  neighboring  provinces  of  France;  in  the  magnifi- 
cent fagade  of  S.  Pablo  at  Valladolid  (Fig.  374),  at  least,  the  resem- 
blance to  those  of  Poitiers  and  Angouleme  (compare  Fig.  216)  is 
unmistakable.  No  influence  of  the  elaborate  Italian  fagades,  such  as 
those  of  Siena  and  Orvieto,  can  be  assumed  in  view  of  the  inferior 
and  inorganic  decorative  system  of  Spain.  The  southern  side  of  the 
exterior  of  the  Capilla  Real  at  Granada,  which  alone  has  been  pre- 
served, is  remarkable  for  its  regular  arrangement  of  emblems  and 
coats  of  arms ;  a  similar  ornamentation  appears  also  in  the  interior 
of  the  votive  Church  of  San  Juan  de  los  Reyes  at  Toledo,  and  in 
the  beautiful  cloistered  court  connected  with  it. 

A  great  number  of  Gothic  palaces,  convents,  hospitals,  and 
dwelling-houses  are  still  preserved  in  Burgos,  Valladolid,  Toledo, 
Valencia,  Barcelona,  and  other  towns.  Fine  examples  of  decora- 
tion are  the  portal  of  the  Convent  of  S.  Gregorio  at  Valladolid,  and 
those  of  the  hospitals  Casa  del  Nuncio  and  S.  Cruz  at  Toledo,  etc. 
Several  high-altar  pieces  are  similar  in  character  to  the  before-men- 
tioned fagades ;  their  frames  and  panels  show  reminiscences  of  the 


SPAIN.  587 

Byzantine  and  Romanic  metal-work,  from  the  Pala  d'Oro  down  to 
the  bronze  gates  of  Germany.  The  architectural  structure,  how- 
ever, which  is  the  chief  feature  of  the  corresponding  German  works 
is  here  of  subordinate  importance.  A  number  of  Gothic  funeral 


Fig.  374. — Fagade  of  S.  Pablo  in  Valladolid. 


monuments,  particularly  the  royal  sarcophagi  in  the  Cartuja  de 
Miraflores  near  Burgos,  are  of  great  magnificence,  being  scarcely 
inferior  in  elaboration  to  the  tombs  of  the  Burgundian  dukes  in 
Dijon. 

It  was  not  until  late  in  the  Gothic  period  that  Portugal  began 


588  THE   EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

to  emulate  Spain  in  artistic  activity.  The  fine  Convent  of  Batalha, 
commenced  in  1390,  does  not,  however,  exhibit  any  great  individu- 
ality, although  the  forms  are  more  full  and  flowing, — a  difference  in 
character  corresponding  to  that  between  the  Portuguese  and  Span- 
ish languages.  In  both  countries  the  Moorish  influence  is  noticea- 
ble in  the  frequent  employment  of  the  horseshoe  and  cusped  arch- 
es, the  arabesque  traceries,  etc.  In  general,  the  later  Gothic  of  the 
peninsula  is  characterized  by  a  luxurious  overgrowth,  this  being  es- 
pecially manifest  in  the  superabundant  curled  ornamentation  of  the 
capitals,  in  the  heavy  crockets  and  finials,  consoles  and  pinnacles. 


THE    NETHERLANDS. 

The  position  of  the  Netherlands  in  regard  to  architecture,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  period  in  question,  is  best  exemplified  by  the 
Cathedral  of  Tournay,  in  which  Norman,  French,  and  German  ele- 
ments appear  side  by  side  in  the  most  incongruous  manner,  without 
any  attempt  to  combine  them  into  one  harmonious  whole.  At 
first  German,  particularly  Rhenish,  influences  predominated,  as  dur- 
ing the  previous  epoch ;  but  the  Romanic  system  was  gradually 
given  up,  the  artistic  taste  inclining  more  towards  the  French  mod- 
els. This  tendency  was  greatly  furthered  by  the  long  connection 
of  the  Chapter  of  Tournay  with  Noyon,  and  was  extended  beyond 
the  limits  of  the  diocese  through  the  importance  of  the  cathedral  of 
the  former  town  (Fig.  375).  But  in  general  the  sympathies  of  the 
Walloons  were  Gallic,  and  the  German  element  disappeared  more 
and  more,  even  from  the  district  of  the  Meuse,  where  the  culture 
had  originally  been  Rhenish. 

Throughout  the  first  quarter  of  the  twelfth  century  the  transi- 
tional style  continued  predominant.  The  supremacy  of  the  French 
Gothic  first  became  manifest  in  the  Netherlands  in  the  choir  of 
Sainte  Gudule  at  Brussels,  begun  in  1225  ;  even  the  Choir  of  Tour- 
nay,  begun  in  1242,  was  subjected  to  the  new  influences,  notwith- 
standing the  marked  contrast  between  the  additions  and  the  pre- 
viously existing  parts  of  the  structure.  The  other  ecclesiastical 
edifices  of  Belgium,  those  of  Tongres,  Ghent,  Louvain,  Diest,  Ypres, 
Bruges,  and  Dinant,  all  founded  between  1240  and  1260,  follow  the 


THE   NETHERLANDS. 


589 


same  tendencies,  although  often  retaining  transitional  features.  This 
hesitation  in  point  of  style  was  not  entirely  overcome  until  the  con- 
struction of  the  magnificent  cathedrals  of  the  fourteenth  century: 
S.  Rombout  at  Mechlin,  begun  after  1341  ;  the  Cathedral  of  Ant- 
werp, begun  in  1352,  and,  with  exception  of  the  tower,  completed 
in  1422,  and  that  of  Louvain,  built  between  1373  and  1433.  The 
Cathedral  of  Mons,  belonging  to  this  group,  is  as  late  as  the  fifteenth 
century. 

Some  national  peculiarities  are  observable  from  the  first,  chief 
among  which  is  the  greater  breadth  in  comparison  to  the  height. 


Fig.  375. — Plan  of  the  Cathedral  of  Tournay. 

While  the  altitude  of  the  nave  is  rarely  more  than  twice  its  breadth, 
five-aisled  constructions  are  frequent.  The  Cathedral  of  Antwerp 
(Fig.  376),  even,  has  seven  aisles,  being  the  only  example  of  the  kind 
in  existence.  A  fine  effect  of  perspective  results  from  this  arrange- 
ment, and  compensates  for  the  want  of  memberment  in  the  columns. 
Through  an  imitation  of  the  early  Gothic  details  of  France,  plain  sup- 
ports, like  those  of  Antwerp,  continued  in  common  use  in  the  Neth- 
erlands. A  further  difference  appears  in  Belgium  in  the  termination 
of  the  choir.  The  surrounding  passage  and  radial  chapels  are  sim- 
plified in  a  most  rational  manner:  the  vault  of  each  chapel  being 
united  with  that  of  the  corresponding  part  of  the  surrounding  pas- 


590 


THE   EXTENSION    OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 


sage, — a  great  improvement  upon  the  complicated  French  system. 
This  innovation,  which  may  have  been  based  upon  the  arrangement 
of  the  choir  at  Soissons,  is  first  noticeable  in  the  choir  of  Tournay. 
Beyond  Holland  and  Belgium  it  was  only  adopted  in  the  districts 
of  the  Baltic,  whither  it  had  doubtless  been  introduced  from  the 
Netherlands.  The  somewhat  heavy  character  peculiar  to  the  exte- 
rior of  the  Belgian  cathedrals  is  particularly  noticeable  in  the  fa- 
Qades.  These  rarely  have  two  towers,  those  of  the  cathedrals  of 
Brussels  and  Antwerp  being  exceptional ,  the  aim  was  rather  direct- 
ed towards  an  imposing  height  of  the  single  tower  placed  either  be- 


Fig.  376. — Plan  of  the  Cathedral  of  Antwerp. 

fore  or  above  the  western  fagade.  The  proposed  height  of  the  tow- 
ers of  the  Cathedral  of  Mechlin  and  the  Church  of  Wandru  at  Mons 
was  the  greatest  ever  attempted,  being  respectively  170  m.  and 
1 80  m.  One  of  the  towers  of  the  Cathedral  of  Antwerp  was  com- 
pleted at  a  subsequent  period,  but  those  of  Mechlin  and  Mons  have 
not  reached  the  height  originally  intended. 

In  conformity  with  the  municipal  character  of  the  communities 
of  the  Netherlands,  similar  in  this  respect  to  the  towns  of  Upper 
Italy,  much  attention  was  devoted  to  the  erection  of  civic  buildings. 
The  town-halls  and  the  edifices  for  commercial  purposes,  both  pro- 
vided with  towers,  became  of  great  importance,  especially  in  the 


THE   NETHERLANDS.  591 

Western  Netherlands.  The  Guildhall  at  Ypres,  completed  in  1304, 
and  that  of  Bruges  are  the  oldest,  but  those  of  Louvain,  Mechlin, 
and  Ghent  are  not  much  later.  Town-halls  were  not  built  before 
the  second  half  of  the  fourteenth  century:  open  squares,  or  the  up- 
per stories  of  the  commercial  halls,  having  previously  been  used  for 
public  assemblages.  The  town -hall  of  Bruges,  built  in  1377,  was 
the  first  edifice  of  the  kind  erected  in  the  Netherlands.  This  was 
followed,  in  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century,  by  the  town-hall 
of  Brussels,  which  is  far  more  spacious  than  the  former,  and  is  cele- 
brated for  its  imposing  tower,  at  once  belfry  and  lookout.  The 
height  of  this  is  102  m.  The  charming  and  richly  decorated  town- 
hall  of  Louvain,  built  between  1448  and  1463,  exemplifies  the  pride 
of  the  citizens  in  such  monuments  of  municipal  supremacy.  Struct- 
ures of  this  kind  were  erected  even  as  late  as  the  sixteenth  century ; 
instance  the  town-hall  of  Oudenaerde. 

In  artistic  respects,  Holland  presented  a  greater  contrast  to  Bel- 
gium at  the  beginning  of  the  Gothic  period  than  at  its  close. 
Dutch  architecture  did  not,  at  first,  stand  in  so  close  connection 
with  that  of  France  as  with  that  of  Westphalia,  Saxony,  and  even 
Cologne.  This  is  shown,  for  example,  by  the  Cathedral  of  Utrecht. 
In  the  fourteenth  century  the  influence  of  Germany  decreased,  ow- 
ing, in  great  measure,  to  the  French  tendencies  of  the  dynasties  of 
Hainault,  Bavaria,  and  Burgundy.  But  in  the  architecture  of  Hol- 
land there  still  remained  a  certain  bourgeois  simplicity,  resulting 
from  the  character  of  the  people,  as  well  as  from  the  prevalence  of 
brick  as  a  building  material.  The  memberment  of  the  exterior  is 
very  scant,  the  tower  being  heavy  and  without  ornament,  or  omitted 
altogether,  as  in  St.  Bavon  at  Haarlem  and  St.  Pancras  at  Leyden. 
As  to  the  interior,  equally  plain,  the  clerestory  wall  is  supported 
upon  cylindrical  columns,  and  has  no  triforium  apertures,  their  place 
being  taken  by  mullions  and  arches  in  relief.  The  lines  of  the  trac- 
ery are  rude  and  heavy.  Vaults  of  masonry  were  seldom  attempted 
even  in  brick,  imitations  in  wood  being  substituted,  often  of  elabo- 
rate stellar  forms,  as  in  the  two  last-mentioned  churches.  Wooden 
ceilings  of  this  kind  permitted  a  wider  span  of  the  nave,  and  the  re- 
duction, or  even  the  entire  omission,  of  the  buttresses.  A  certain 
spaciousness  and  grandeur  is  often  attained  in  these  edifices,  the 


592  THE   EXTENSION   OF   GOTHIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

effect  comparing  favorably  with  the  means  employed.  But  they  are 
always  of  a  prosaic  character,  and  their  bareness  has  been  increased 
by  the  destructive  work  of  the  Iconoclasts,  who  removed  the  altars 
and  pictures,  and  destroyed  the  glass  windows, — in  some  cases  even 
the  traceries. 

SCANDINAVIA    AND  THE   COUNTRIES   OF   THE   EAST. 

The  Gothic  style  of  Norway  differs  entirely  from  that  of  the 
other  countries  of  Scandinavia,  being  influenced  chiefly  by  England, 
while  Denmark  and  Sweden  derived  their  architectural  methods 
from  Germany.  In  the  mountainous  tracts  of  the  Norwegian  coast, 
wooden  constructions,  such  as  those  previously  described,  continued 
to  be  erected,  but  in  the  larger  towns  stone  edifices  of  greater  im- 
portance came  into  vogue.  Chief  among  these  latter,  in  regard  to 
dimensions  and  artistic  merit,  is  the  Cathedral  of  Drontheim,  but  its 
various  parts  are  referable  to  widely  different  periods.  It  is  hence 
impossible  to  derive  from  it  any  clear  conception  of  the  develop- 
ment of  the  national  architecture,  or  to  distinguish  which  of  the 
features,  occurring  side  by  side  with  those  of  the  English  Gothic, 
are  essentially  Norwegian,  and  which  may  be  referable  to  the  ca- 
price of  the  builder.  It  is  only  certain  that,  in  the  course  of  the 
epoch,  the  importation  from  England  gradually  diminished,  and 
was  replaced  by  that  of  Germany. 

Sweden  received  the  Gothic  directly  from  France.  A  French 
architect,  Etienne  de  Bonneuil,  was  called  in  1287  to  superintend 
the  erection  of  the  Cathedral  of  Upsala,  and  brought  with  him  his 
whole  staff  of  workmen.  These  relations,  however,  could  not  be  of 
long  duration,  owing  to  the  distance  of  France,  and  the  difficulties 
of  communication  between  the  countries  through  the  gulfs  of  Fin- 
land and  Bothnia.  Architectural  methods  and  technical  training  were 
more  easily  introduced  from  the  German  provinces  of  the  Baltic, 
the  influences  of  which  are  unmistakably  evident  in  the  Swedish 
edifices  of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries.  Even  Denmark, 
though  so  much  nearer  to  France,  was,  in  artistic  respects,  almost 
entirely  dependent  upon  Germany,  with  whose  culture  it  had  been 
intimately  connected  since  the  age  of  Charlemagne. 

The  case  was  similar  with  Poland,  Hungary,  and  the  neighbor- 


SCANDINAVIA   AND   THE   COUNTRIES   OF   THE   EAST.  593 

ing  countries.  The  influences  of  the  West  found  here  the  more 
ready  acceptance  because  of  the  pronounced  antagonism  to  the 
tendencies  of  their  neighbors  upon  the  East — Russia  and  the  de- 
clining Byzantine  empire.  Great  architectural  activity  could  not 
be  expected  of  a  people  who,  from  the  earliest  times,  had  been  at 
home  in  the  saddle  or  the  wagon  rather  than  in  fixed  abodes,  and 
to  whom  arms  and  the  trappings  of  horses  were  more  important  than 
domestic  furnishings.  Still,  in  Cracow,  the  capital  of  Poland,  and 
in  Kaschau,  the  episcopal  city  of  the  Magyars,  there  are  some  note- 
worthy edifices,  of  a  style  evidently  derived  from  Germany,  those  of 
the  former  town  following  the  architectural  methods  of  Silesia  and 
Prussia,  those  of  the  latter  being  influenced  by  Bohemia  and  the 
Eastern  mark.  Scarcely  a  trace  of  any  national  individuality  can 
be  perceived  in  these  vast  districts,  which  were  far  more  dependent 
upon  the  civilization  of  Germany  than  was  Western  Europe  upon 
that  of  France. 

Through  the  Crusades,  France,  aided  by  all  the  Christian  powers 
of  the  Occident,  extended  its  culture  beyond  the  limits  of  Europe. 
French  methods  were  established  in  the  East  perhaps  even  earlier 
than  in  Germany  and  England.  Soon  after  the  first  appearance  of 
the  Gothic  style  in  the  He  de  France,  French  architects  were  em- 
ployed in  the  Kingdom  of  Jerusalem,  which,  as  is  well  known,  was 
overthrown  before  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century.  The  same  influ- 
ence and  activity  were  displayed  in  St.  Jean  d'Acre,  which  remained 
in  possession  of  the  Christians  until  1291  ;  in  Cyprus,  conquered  in 
1191  ;  and,  finally,  in  Rhodes,  occupied  by  the  Knights  of  St.  John 
between  1309  and  1522,  where  the  later  style  flourished  as  the  early 
French  Gothic  had  done  in  Jerusalem.  Few  Christian  monuments 
of  the  period  have  been  preserved  in  these  places.  That  which 
was  not  destroyed  by  the  fanaticism  of  the  Moslems,  or  by  the  fre- 
quently occurring  earthquakes,  was  ruined  by  neglect. 

38 


M  is 


p  tf$ 


Fig-  377- — Monuments  in  the  Choir  of  the  Princes,  Church  of  St.  Elisabeth,  Marburg. 


GOTHIC   SCULPTURE. 

THE  conditions  and  ideals  which,  towards  the  close  of  the  Mid- 
dle Ages,  superseded  those  of  the  Romanic  epoch,  found  their 
grandest  exponent  in  architecture.  Not,  however,  their  most  direct. 
The  static  and  abstract  requirements  of  architectural  design  per- 
mitted only  a  symbolical  expression  of  the  most  characteristic  sen- 
timents of  the  time.  They  could  give  but  a  faint  idea  of  the  more 
independent  religious  conceptions  of  the  individual,  —  of  the  re- 
moval of  higher  culture  from  the  cell  of  the  monk  to  the  forum  of 
every-day  life, — of  the  more  intimate  sympathy  of  man  with  nature, 
— and  of  all  the  other  changes  of  far-reaching  importance.  It  is, 
indeed,  possible  to  perceive  in  the  architecture  of  the  period  that 
an  immense  change  had  been  wrought  in  social  relations ;  but  the 
nature  of  this  change  cannot  thus  be  judged. 

Sculpture  and  painting,  dealing  as  they  do  with  the  representa- 
tion of  human  beings,  or  human  conceptions  of  divinities,  and  of 
human  sentiments  and  actions,  bear  a  more  direct  and  intelligible 
testimony.  They  show  that  the  religious  feeling,  far  from  having 


GOTHIC   SCULPTURE.  595 

been  diminished,  had  exchanged  its  ascetic  and  monkish  character 
for  more  intimate  and  less  conventional  relations, — for  a  more  confi- 
dent personal  fervor.  They  show  that  austere  dogmatism  and  dry 
scholasticism  had  been  supplanted  by  a  faith  far  more  mystic  and 
adaptable, — the  doctrine  of  salvation  being  no  longer  conceived  as 
an  epic,  but  cherished  as  a  lyric  sentiment.  Hence  the  archaistic 
traditions  of  culture  gave  way  to  sensitive  and  individual  views  of 
life,  the  schematic  forms  of  Byzantine  art  to  more  various  modes 
of  expression.  Repelling  dignity  became  amiable  grace  ;  soulless 
and  unapproachable  abstractions  were  converted  into  intimate  real- 
ities. The  awakening  poesy  manifested  itself  in  the  arts,  and  not 
less  in  religious  than  in  secular  representations.  The  greater  refine- 
ment of  chivalry,  of  courtly  grace  and  manners,  broke  through  the 
narrow  limitations  of  ecclesiastical  ceremonialism,  and  made  itself 
evident  in  the  forms  and  gestures  portrayed  in  mundane  subjects. 
Both  religious  and  profane  art  were  freed  from  blind  insusceptibility 
to  physical  perfection,  and  were  opened  to  every  charm  of  beauty. 
Youth  took  the  place  of  age  ;  in  contrast  to  previous  usage  the  ideals 
were  feminine  rather  than  masculine,  and  types  of  virgin  loveliness 
were  more  prominent  than  those  of  matronly  dignity.  The  highest 
eminence  was  assigned  to  the  representation  of  the  Virgin  Mother, 
who  was  conceived  at  once  as  the  Queen  of  Heaven  and  as  a  prin- 
cess-bride. 

The  emancipation  of  artistic  activity  from  monastic  limitations, 
and  the  great  pleasure  in  creation  felt  both  by  the  artists  and  by  the 
general  public,  rapidly  increased  the  technical  ability,  as  well  as  the 
occasions  for  its  exercise.  It  cannot,  however,  be  said  that  the  sub- 
jects available  for  representation  had  been  extended.  The  symboli- 
cal cycles  of  the  Christian  doctrine  became  of  less  importance,  while 
scenes  chosen  from  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  from  the  Parables, 
and  their  typological  comparisons,  were  more  rare  than  during  the 
Romanic  epoch.  Sculpture,  especially,  was,  in  many-figured  reliefs, 
limited  to  an  exposition  of  the  Passion  and  the  Last  Judgment, 
and  in  single  figures  to  the  Virgin  and  certain  saints.  These  latter 
were  not  conceived  in  that  remoteness  from  human  interests  which 
had  been  their  characteristic  during  previous  periods,  but  as  patrons 
of  suffering  humanity,  and  as  intercessors  with  the  Divine  Power, — 


596  GOTHIC   SCULPTURE. 

always  ready  with  help  and  grace.     These  relations  are  emphasized 
throughout ;  a  loving  sympathy  speaks  from  every  face. 

Ecclesiastical  art  became  more  human.  Christian  charity  and 
devotion,  as  practised  by  the  pure  in  heart,  is  evident  in  every  feat- 
ure, while  the  artistic  treatment,  emancipating  itself  from  the  tradi- 
tional methods,  approached  more  and  more  towards  truthfulness  to 
nature.  This  improvement  was,  however,  slow.  Realism  did  not 
appear  until  the  close  of  the  period.  The  figures  were  ideal, — even 
typical.  The  funeral  monuments  themselves,  although  generally 
portraits  of  the  deceased,  long  continued  to  be  executed  with  but 
little  study  of  nature,  and  when  this  did  appear  it  was  in  the  acces- 
saries rather  than  in  the  principal  figures.  Even  in  those  cases 
where  the  sculptor  had  seen  the  person  represented,  the  lineaments 
were  formed  after  a  general  model,  which  was  employed  also  in  the 
portrait-statues  of  those  who  had  died  long  before.  As  late  as  the 
fourteenth  century  the  attempt  of  an  artist  to  study  the  features  of 
the  Emperor  Rudolph  of  Hapsburg  for  the  design  of  a  monument, 
was  derided  as  "  alberner  Schick."  This  class  of  sculptures,  never- 
theless, constantly  tended  to  realistic  studies,  which  varied  and  gave 
life  to  the  ideal  types. 

FRANCE. 

It  is  a  matter  of  surprise  that  the  brilliant  beginning  of  Gothic 
architecture  in  France*  was  not  accompanied  by  a  corresponding 
advance  in  sculpture.  TJie  western  portal  and  fa£ade  of  the  Abbey 
Church  of  St.  Denis  and  of  the  Cathedral  of  Chartres  are  decorated 
with  statues  referable  to  the  years  between  1140  and  1150,  but  these 
are  but  little  superior  to  the  Burgundian  productions  of  the  first 
half  of  the  twelfth  century.  It  is  plain  that  all  artistic  energies 
were  directed  towards  the  development  of  architecture,  sculpture 
remaining  in  the  hands  of  artists  of  the  old  school,  who  were  per- 
haps called  from  Burgundy.  If  these  artists  made  any  concession 


*  A.  du  Sommerard,  Les  Arts  du  Moyen-age,  Paris,  1838-1846. — J.  Gailhabaud,  L'Archi- 
tecture  du  V. — XVII.  siecle  et  les  Arts,  qui  en  dependent.  Paris,  1858. — P.  Lacroix,  Les 
Arts  au  Moyen-age  et  a  1'epoque  de  la  Renaissance.  Paris,  1869. — Emeric  David,  His- 
toire  de  la  sculpture  Fran9aise.  Paris,  1853. 


FRANCE.  597 

to  the  new  style,  it  was  only  in  favor  of  verticalism  and  exaggerated 
attenuation,  while  the  monotony  of  the  heads,  the  rigid  attitude  of 
the  figures,  the  meagreness  cf  the  bodies,  and  the  parallel  folds  of 
the  drapery  exceed  in  stiffness  even  the  works  of  the  Byzantines. 

These  conditions  continued  essentially  the  same  throughout  the 
twelfth  century,  that  is  to  say,  during  the  early 
period  of  the  French  Gothic.  Slight  traces  of 
an  awakening  originality  occasionally  appear,  as 
in  the  portals  of  Senlis  and  Mantes,  but  the 
want  of  action  is  still  painfully  felt.  These  de- 
fects seem  first  to  have  been  in  some  measure 
overcome  in  the  sculptures  of  the  fagades  of 
Laon  and  of  Notre-Dame  of  Paris,  which  can 
hardly  have  been  executed  before  1210.  The 
figures  here,  though  somewhat  constrained,  are 
no  longer  rigid  ;  they  are  not  lifeless,  but  chaste, 
self-contained,  and  severe.  They  compare  with 
the  works  preceding  them  as  do  the  produc- 
tions of  the  schools  of  Attica  and  ^gina,  dur- 
ing the  first  decades  of  the  Persian  war,  with 
the  older  statues,  such  as  the  Apollos  of  Tenea 
and  Thera.  A  further  advance  is  evident  in  the 
sculptures  of  the  fagade  of  the  Cathedral  of 
Amiens,  dating  from  about  1230  (Figs.  378  and 
379).  The  constraint  of  the  figures  upon  the 
fagades  before  mentioned  is  here  softened  into 
a  certain  shy  modesty,  rendered  the  more  at- 
tractive by  the  excellent  but  unobtrusive  tech- 
nical treatment.  The  solemn,  upright  bearing 
of  the  figures  is  well  adapted  to  the  archi- 
tectural framework ;  the  garments,  unpreten- 
tiously draped  but  carefully  executed,  correspond  to  the  simple 
attitudes ;  and  the  seriousness  of  the  faces  is  in  harmony  with  the 
sober  gestures.  Entire  freedom  of  action,  accurate  truth  to  nature, 
and  an  artistic  appreciation  of  sensuous  beauty  were,  however,  still 
beyond  the  aspirations  of  the  unassuming  artist. 

When,  in  the  time  of  Louis  IX.,  Gothic  architecture  reached  its 


Fig.  378. —  Statue  of 
Christ,  from  the  Ca- 
thedral of  Amiens. 


598  GOTHIC   SCULPTURE. 

highest  development,  sculpture  also  attained  to  a  similar  degree  of 
perfection.  The  decorations  upon  the  fagades  of  the  transepts  of 
the  cathedrals  of  Paris  and  Chartres,  those  of  the  Sainte  Chapelle 
at  Paris,  and  especially  those  of  the  portals  of  the  cathedral  at 
Rheims,  are  among  the  noblest  works  of  Christian  sculpture,  and, 
until  the  age  of  Sluter,  the  most  perfect  productions  of  this  art 
north  of  the  Alps.  Archaic  naivete  has  developed  into  noble  sim- 
plicity, which,  sure  of  its  aim,  undertakes  its  task  with  surprising 
confidence,  able  as  well  to  render  grandeur  and  dignity  as  grace  and 
beauty.  The  subject  is  always  well  conventionalized,  varied  but  not 
labored ;  the  conception  simple  and  natural  throughout ;  the  action 
full  of  elegance  and  reserve,  the  bearing  courtly,  but  never  affected. 
The  artistic  merit  is  not  always  equal  in  the  details,  as  is  not  sur- 
prising when  it  is  considered  that  hundreds  of  statues,  and  reliefs 
with  many  figures,  were  required  to  be  executed  within  a  short 
time  by  various  hands.  Still,  want  of  talent  and  of  technical  ability 
are  seldom  or  never  to  be  observed,  this  being  a  proud  evidence  of 
the  high  standard  maintained  by  the  leading  artists,  and  indeed  by 
the  entire  school. 

The  Cathedral  of  Rheims  has  been  called  the  Parthenon  of  the 
Middle  Ages.  This  is,  however,  going  too  far;  for  though  the  edi- 
fice, both  in  its  architecture  and  sculpture,  may  be  considered  as  the 
finest  creation  of  the  Middle  Ages,  still  it  is  not  of  that  absolute 
perfection  which  characterizes  the  work  of  Iktinos  and  Pheidias. 
The  sculptures  of  the  cathedral  are  by  no  means  entirely  free  from 
inequalities  in  composition,  from  errors  in  proportion,  and  from  ex- 
aggeration of  facial  expression.  The  course  of  development  was 
moreover  entirely  different  from  that  of  Greece,  in  this  case  the  se- 
verity of  the  preceding  works  not  having  led  to  the  grandeur  of  the 
productions  of  Pheidias,  but  to  a  grace  and  elegance  of  style  rather 
akin  to  that  of  Praxiteles.  The  masters  of  Rheims  were  more  suc- 
cessful in  rendering  youthful  and  maidenly  delicacy,  tender  and  sym- 
pathetic dream-life,  light  limbs  and  flowing  draperies,  than  the  seri- 
ous dignity  and  the  strongly  marked  character  requisite  for  manly 
figures, — which  latter  subjects  are,  in  the  Cathedral  of  Rheims,  often 
wanting  in  energy  of  form  and  expression.  The  parallel  only  holds 
good  when  the  relations  in  which  mediaeval  art  stood  to  the  antique 


FRANCE.  599 

are  considered,  and  the  great  inferiority  of  the  Middle  Ages  in  the 
delineation  of  forms,  together  with  the  naive  and  modest  require- 
ments of  the  time,  are  fully  taken  into  account, — these  not  admit- 
ting of  a  just  comparison  with  the  trained  excellence  of  Hellenic 
art. 

The  good  conventionalization  which  characterized  the  sculpture 
in  the  time  of  Louis  IX.  was  scarcely  maintained  until  the  end  of 
the  thirteenth  century.  It  was  inevitable  that  this  graceful  loveli- 
ness should  degenerate  into  sentimentality,  the  sweet  expression  of 
the  finely-cut  features  into  a  stereotyped  and  coquettish  smile,  the 
delicacy  of  the  hands  and  limbs  into  a  weak  effeminacy,  the  elegant 
suppleness  of  motions  and  the  easy  folds  of  the  draperies  into  af- 
fectation. During  the  latter  part  of  the  period  the  popular  taste 
tended  to  routine  and  striving  after  effect.  By  the  end  of  the  cen- 
tury a  conscious  elegance  and  affected  grace  had  become  prevalent. 
Thus  sculpture,  which  in  1200  was  stiff  and  formal,  and  had  attained 
such  great  life  and  character  by  the  middle  of  the  century,  degen- 
erated, at  its  close,  into  affectation.  How  marked  the  contrast  is 
most  plainly  shown  by  a  comparison  of  two  statues  of  the  Virgin 
upon  the  same  edifice,  one  of  which  is  referable  to  the  beginning, 
the  other  to  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century  (Figs.  379  and  380). 

The  decadence  of  French  sculpture  in  the  fourteenth  century 
went  hand  in  hand  with  that  of  architecture.  It  was  affected  by 
the  same  influences  which  in  the  art  of  building  led  to  the  weak 
flamboyant  style.  In  both  branches  of  art  these  tendencies  are  ex- 
plicable by  the  transformation  which  had  taken  place  in  the  life  of 
the  higher  classes  of  society :  the  austere  chivalry  had  declined  into 
courtly  elegance ;  the  earnest  and  even  fanatical  piety  of  the  time 
of  the  Crusades  had  been  succeeded  by  the  vain  gallantries  of  the 
Court  of  Love,  and  by  the  frivolities  of  the  tournament.  Between 
the  art  of  the  thirteenth  century  and  that  of  the  fourteenth  the 
same  contrast  is  observable  as  between  the  court  of  Louis  IX.,  the 
founder  of  the  Sainte  Chapelle,  and  that  of  Charles  V.,  the  builder 
of  the  Hotel  de  Saint  Paul.  The  technical  execution  of  the  latter 
period  is  fully  equal,  or  even  superior,  to  that  of  the  former ;  the 
forms  are  more  universally  correct  and  the  figures  more  charming ; 
but  in  place  of  freshness  of  conception  and  naive  devotion,  there 


6oo 


GOTHIC   SCULPTURE. 


appears  a  shallow  brilliancy  and  a  seeking  after  effect ;  instead  of  an 
honest  endeavor  to  master  the  material,  a  well-trained  but  mechan- 
ical facility.  The  artists  no  longer  worked  with  a  sincere  enthusi- 
asm for  the  subject,  but  rather  displayed  their  abilities  for  the  sake 
of  their  own  renown.  It  is  characteristic  that  while  the  name  of  no 


Fig.  379. — Madonna  from  the  Cathedral 
of  Amiens,  dating  from  the  beginning 
of  the  thirteenth  century. 


Fig.  380. — Madonna  from  the  Cathedral 
of  Amiens,  dating  from  the  end  of  the 
thirteenth  century. 


artist  is  attached  to  the  older  works,  not  even  to  the  fine  statues  of 
the  Cathedral  of  Rheims,  the  artists  of  the  skilfully  executed  reliefs 
upon  the  southern  choir  screen  of  Notre-Dame  in  Paris,  completed 
in  1351,  have,  by  inscriptions,  perpetuated  their  names, — Ravy  and 
Jehan  le  Bouteiller. 

In  general,  religious  sculptures  were  more  frequently  employed 


FRANCE.  6oi 

for  the  decoration  of  the  exterior,  especially  the  facades,  than  for  the 
interior  of  the  churches.  Within  the  building  a  branch  of  sculpture 
almost  secular  in  character  was  prevalent,  namely,  that  of  the  fu- 
neral monuments.  From  the  awakened  desire  for  personal  notoriety 
it  naturally  resulted  that  these  monuments  were  not,  as  formerly, 
decorated  with  mere  symbols  and  inscriptions,  but  with  a  portrait- 
effigy  of  the  deceased.  When  the  monument  formed  the  lid  of  a 
tomb  in  the  pavement,  or  of  a  sarcophagus,  the  likeness  represented 
the  body  lying  in  state,  but  when  the  stone  was  erect  upon  the  wall 
or  upon  a  pillar,  the  figure  was  sometimes  conceived  as  living  and 
standing.  Although  from  the  nature  of  this  branch  of  art  a  more 
realistic  treatment  was  required,  this  tendency  makes  itself  but 
slightly  evident  during  the  twelfth  century,  the  figures  and  draper- 
ies remaining  conventional,  and  the  heads  without  great  individu- 
ality. This  is  best  illustrated,  among  the  works  which  can  be  accu- 
rately dated,  by  the  two  royal  tombs  in  the  Abbey  of  Fontevrault 
(Anjou),  representing  the  English  kings  Henry  II.  (d.  1189)  and 
Richard  Cceur  de  Lion  (d.  1 199).  The  rigid  position  of  the  bodies, 
the  idealized,  expressionless  heads,  and  the  stiff  parallel  folds  of  the 
garments  show  scarcely  a  trace  of  the  new  style.  The  monument 
of  the  widow  of  Henry  II.,  Eleanor  of  Guyenne  (d.  1204),  shows 
some  indications  of  a  new  artistic  life,  while  the  stone  erected  in 
L'Espan  near  Mantes,  for  the  widow  of  Richard,  Berengaria  (d.  1219), 
entirely  follows  the  new  manner. 

Traces  of  the  old  conventionality  are  still  to  be  observed  in  the 
funeral  monuments  of  the  time  of  Louis  IX.,  in  St.  Denis,  and  more 
especially  in  those  of  the  Merovingian  and  Carolingian  kings,  and  of 
the  Capets,  most  of  which  structures  were  restored  between  1263 
and  1264.  In  these  latter  certain  archaic  traits  resulted  from  the 
subject,  since  it  was  wholly  impossible  to  attempt  any  individual 
likeness  or  historical  characterization.  It  could  not,  however,  have 
been  really  necessary  thus  to  avoid  even  the  slightest  variation  in 
the  position,  the  draperies,  and  the  details ;  or  to  form  the  hands, — 
the  right  holding  the  sceptre  and  the  left  the  robe,  —  the  long, 
straight  folds  of  the  tunic,  the  simple  cloak,  the  crown  of  fleurs-de-lis, 
etc.,  all  according  to  a  fixed  model.  The  effigies  of  the  contempo- 
raries of  Louis  IX.  also  show  little  personal  likeness,  although  the 


602  GOTHIC   SCULPTURE. 

portraits  of  the  princes  Philip  and  Louis,  who  died  at  an  early  age, 
have  at  least  the  appearance  of  youth  instead  of  following  the  usual 
types,  which  made  scarcely  any  distinction  as  to  sex  and  age.  In 
other  respects,  as  well,  these  two  figures  are  not  without  artistic 
merit.  A  true  portrait  likeness  first  appears  in  the  monuments  of 
Philip  III.  (d.  1285),  and  of  his  wife,  Isabella  of  Arragon  (d.  1271), 
works  of  a  simple  beauty  and  dignity,  in  which  the  archaic  charac- 
ter is  entirely  overcome,  but  as  yet  the  rigor  of  death  is  not  soft- 
ened by  that  expression  of  peaceful  repose  observable  in  the  works 
of  this  kind  after  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century.  This 
expression  may  be  noticed  in  several  monuments  of  St.  Denis,  es- 
pecially in  the  portraits  of  Count  Evreux  (d.  1319)  and  his  wife, 
Countess  of  Artois  (d.  1311).  The  elegance  and  touching  delicacy 
of  the  latter  is  truly  fascinating.  The  union  of  realism  and  ideal- 
ism, which  here  appears  in  its  fullest  perfection,  clearly  shows,  how- 
ever, that  the  artist  assigned  more  importance  to  the  artistic  effect 
than  to  individual  likeness.  Thus,  upon  the  tombstone  of  the  son 
of  Louis  X.,  the  Prince  John,  who  died  at  the  age  of  five  days,  the 
infant  is  represented  as  a  well -grown  boy, — in  which  instance,  at 
least,  there  can  be  no  question  as  to  the  want  of  likeness. 

Sculptured  decorations  of  figures  are  not  restricted  to  the  royal 
sarcophagi  in  St.  Denis,  but  are  found  upon  tombs  throughout 
France.  These  works,  though  not  often  equalling  those  of  the  cap- 
ital, always  bear  witness  to  the  excellence  of  French  sculpture. 
This  excellence  continued  to  characterize  the  sculpture  of  funeral 
monuments  until  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century.  After  this 
time  the  decadence  of  the  art  is  unmistakable,  even  in  St.  Denis. 
The  tomb  of  King  John,  who  died  in  1364,  already  shows  that  me- 
chanical monotony  and  want  of  expression  which  is  peculiar  even  to 
the  better  works  of  the  following  decades,  and  characterizes  the  last 
stages  of  this  artistic  development.  That  even  those  who  gave  the 
orders  were  aware  of  the  debasement,  is  proved  by  the  increased  de- 
mand for  artists  from  the  Netherlands. 

This  employment  of  masters  from  the  neighboring  country  was 
not  new,  and,  at  least  in  metal  work,  can  be  traced  back  to  the  Ro- 
manic epoch.  The  activity  of  France  in  this  latter  branch  seems  to 
have  been  limited  to  work  in  gold  and  silver,  chiefly  in  Limoges  and 


THE   NETHERLANDS.  603 

its  vicinity.  It  was  here  combined  with  enamel  work,  and,  without 
losing  its  Byzantine  and  Romanic  characteristics,  gained  a  wider 
field  than  mere  decoration  of  utensils,  in  which,  during  the  Romanic 
period,  Western  France  had  followed  the  example  of  Lorraine.  Be- 
sides several  altar-pieces  belonging  to  the  time  in  question,  mention 
must  be  made  of  the  monument  of  Henry  II.  of  England  (d.  1189), 
in  Le  Mans,  a  tablet  with  life-sized  figures  executed  in  £mail  champ- 
leve.  Among  the  larger  reliquaries,  that  of  St.  Taurinus  at  Evreux, 
referable  to  the  years  between  1240  and  1265,  first  exhibits  archi- 
tectural details  of  the  Gothic  style. 

Bronze  castings  are  rare ;  the  two  more  important  tombs  of 
bishops  at  Amiens,  with  the  effigies  of  Eberhard  of  Fouilloy,  and 
Godfrey  of  Eu,  the  former  of  whom  died  in  1223,  the  latter  in  1237, 
are  so  absolutely  alike  that  they  cannot  deserve  the  name  of  por- 
traits. It  may  be  assumed  that  these  and  similar  works  were  influ- 
enced by  the  before -mentioned  foundery  of  Dinant,  the  "  Dinan- 
diers  "  still  having  the  monopoly  of  bronze  casting  in  France. 

THE    NETHERLANDS. 

In  the  Netherlands  themselves,  Dinant  seems  not  to  have  main- 
tained its  ancient  renown.  Still,  the  foundery  existed  at  least  until 
towards  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century,  as  is  proved  by  a  can- 
delabrum and  a  reading-desk  at  Tongres,  inscribed  with  the  name 
Jan  Joseb  of  Dinant,  and  the  date  13/2.  Two  brasses  in  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Bruges,  with  the  dates  1387  and  1423-39,  recording  the 
deaths  of  the  persons  there  interred,  show  the  figures  wrapped  in 
shrouds,  these  being  rendered  with  extraordinary  taste  and  ability, 
evidently  resulting  from  a  close  study  of  nature.  But  some  doubt 
remains  as  to  the  place  where  these  works  originated,  similar  pro- 
ductions being  known  in  England  as  "  Cullen  plates," — that  is  to 
say,  of  Cologne. 

When  Flemish  sculptors  are  mentioned  as  being  employed  at 
the  French  court,  they  were  generally  not  bronze  founders  from 
Dinant,  but  sculptors  in  stone,  probably  belonging  to  the  school  of 
Tournay.  Two  masters  from  Liege,  Joan  and  Hennequin,  in  the 
second  half  of  the  fourteenth  century,  worked  upon  the  monuments 
of  King  Charles  V.  in  St.  Denis  and  the  Cathedral  of  Rouen.  An- 


604  GOTHIC   SCULPTURE. 

dr£  Beauneveu,  from  Hainault,  who  was  employed  by  John  of 
Berry,  brother  of  Charles  V.,  was  famed  both  in  France  and  Eng- 
land as  the  best  painter  and  sculptor  of  his  time.  The  stone  sculpt- 
ures, referable  to  the  years  between  1340  and  1440,  still  existing  at 
Tournay,  show  this  school  to  have  been  superior  to  all  others  of  the 
period,  and  to  have  fully  equalled  in  excellence  the  schools  of  painting 
of  the  Van  Eycks  and  of  Van  der  Weyden  in  Flanders  and  Brabant. 

It  is  probable,  though  not  susceptible  of  absolute  proof,  that  the 
artistic  activity  which  at  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century  ob- 
tained in  Dijon,  the  capital  of  Burgundy,  was  connected  with  Tour- 
nay.  At  all  events,  when  the  Netherlands  came  into  possession  of 
Burgundy,  Philip  the  Bold  and  his  son  John  the  Fearless  imitated 
the  custom  of  the  last  Duchess  of  Brabant  and  of  the  last  Count  of 
Flanders  in  keeping  artists,  chiefly  painters,  in  employment  at  their 
court.  The  decoration  of  the  Carthusian  cloister  of  Dijon,  which 
Philip,  in  the  year  1383,  had  founded  as  his  last  resting-place,  re- 
quired trained  sculptors  as  well  as  painters.  Thus  we  find  one  Ja- 
cob de  Baerze,  from  Dendermonde  in  Flanders,  a  carver  of  figures, 
together  with  the  painter  Melchior  Broederlam  (Broedlain),  engaged 
in  the  execution  of  elaborate  altar-pieces.  These  works,  now  in  the 
Museum  of  Dijon,  hold  a  middle  place  between  the  art  of  Cologne 
and  that  of  France,  this  resulting  naturally  from  the  geographical 
and  commercial  conditions  of  the  Netherlands.  Together  with  the 
artists  just  mentioned,  the  French  sculptors  Jean  de  Menneville 
and  Thierrion  Voussonne  were  employed  upon  the  tombs  of  the 
Chartreuse,  while  somewhat  later  a  painter  from  Cologne,  by  the 
name  of  Hermann,  worked  upon  the  altar-pieces.  The  Dutch 
sculptor  Claux  Sluter  de  Orlandes,  who  since  the  year  1384  had 
taken  part  in  the  decoration  of  the  convent,  became  superintend- 
ent after  the  death  of  Menneville,  and  held  this  office  for  twenty- 
one  years.  His  superiority  over  all  his  predecessors  gave  him  a 
position  similar  to  that  of  the  Pisani  in  Tuscany.  He  trained  his 
nephew  Claux  de  Werne  (Verwe)  to  be  his  assistant  and  successor. 
Others  who  were  engaged  in  the  work,  judging  by  their  names, — 
Wuillequin  Seront,  Hennequin  Prindale,  Hennequin  de  Bruxelles, 
etc., — must  likewise  have  been  his  countrymen. 

The  character  and  excellence  of  the  art  of  Sluter  and  his  school 


THE   NETHERLANDS.  605 

are  fully  recognizable  in  the  works  which  have  been  preserved.  Of 
the  Church  of  the  Carthusians  nothing  remains  but  the  portal,  in 
which  the  portrait-statues  of  the  duke  and  his  wife,  remarkable  for 
their  careful  execution  and  the  freshness  of  their  realism,  are  proba- 
bly by  Sluter's  own  hand.  This  is  certainly  the  case  with  the  exist- 
ing remains  of  the  so-called  Fountain  of  Moses  (Fig.  38 1),  a  hexagonal 
base,  the  chief  ornaments  of  which  are  six  figures  of  the  prophets. 


Fig.  381. — Statues  of  Prophets  from  the  Fountain  of  Moses,  in  the  Carthusian  Convent  of 

Dijon. 

The  forcibleness  of  the  representation, — for  instance  in  the  Moses, 
which  may  worthily  be  compared  with  the  celebrated  creation  of 
Michel  Angelo, — the  life  like  character  of  the  bald-headed  Isaiah 
and  of  Jeremiah,  reading,  are  truly  admirable,  and  show  beyond  all 
question ,  that  the  artist,  who  was  probably  trained  in  the  school  of 
Tournay,  was  in  sculpture  what  Hubert  van  Eyck  and  Rogier  van 
der  Weyden  afterwards  became  in  painting. 

The  chief  work  of  Sluter  is  the  monument  of  Philip  the  Bold, 


606  GOTHIC   SCULPTURE. 

which  was  begun  a  few  years  later,  in  1404,  and  is  now  in  the  Mu- 
seum of  Dijon.  The  figure  of  the  duke,  which  was  probably  exe- 
cuted after  a  sketch  made  while  the  body  was  lying  in  state,  by 
help  of  a  death-mask  and  of  a  cast  taken  of  the  folded  hands,  is  oi 
striking  realism,  this  having  originally  been  increased  by  an  exten- 
sive polychromatic  treatment.  Of  still  greater  beauty  and  artistic 
significance  is  the  procession  of  the  mourners  upon  the  four  sides 
of  the  sarcophagus,  which  latter  is  of  black  and  white  marble,  and 
in  its  architectural  decorations  imitates  the  forms  of  a  Gothic  clois- 
ter. The  stiffness  of  the  earlier  Gothic  portal  statues  has  entirely 
disappeared  in  these  beautiful  figures  of  alabaster.  The  garments 
of  the  monks  are  quite  free  from  the  mechanical  types,  the  motions 
are  rendered  with  truth  and  assurance,  the  gestures  of  pain  and  lam- 
entation are  very  expressive,  although  at  times  there  is  an  exaggera- 
tion similar  to  that  which  appears  in  the  productions  of  another  art- 
ist of  the  school  of  Tournay, — the  painter  Rogier  van  der  Weyden. 
No  wonder  that  such  a  work  excited  the  greatest  admiration. 
Its  influence  is  to  be  observed  in  Dijon  half  a  century  later,  in  the 
monument  of  John  the  Fearless,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that,  be- 
sides the  Flemish  artists  Guillaume  Anns  and  Jehan  de  Cornicke, 
two  Frenchmen,  Jehan  de  Drogues  and  Antoine  le  Mourturier,  were 
engaged  upon  the  work  which,  strange  to  say,  was  directed  by  a 
Spaniard,  Jehan  de  la  Verta  from  Arragon.  The  last  circumstance 
shows  plainly  that  the  renown  of  Sluter's  work  at  Dijon  had  ex- 
tended even  beyond  the  Pyrenees,  and  that  before  the  time  of  Isa- 
bella, and  the  connection  of  the  Netherlands  with  the  Spanish  crown, 
Spain  had  received  from  Flemish  art  those  influences  which  in 
sculpture,  also,  are  not  to  be  undervalued.  This  is  proved  by  the 
funeral  monuments  in  the  Carthusian  Convent  of  Miraflores  near 
Burgos.  The  Burgundian  capital,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  like  Pisa 
in  the  fourteenth,  and  Nuremberg  about  1500,  was  a  centre  of  sculpt- 
ure, whence  the  influence  of  the  Netherlands,  starting  from  the  foun- 
dery  of  Dinant  in  the  Romanic  epoch,  made  itself  felt  in  the  neigh- 
boring countries.  This  influence,  it  is  true,  was  not  so  extensive  as 
that  of  painting,  the  ascendency  of  which,  unquestioned  through- 
out Western  Europe,  was  attained  about  the  same  time  in  Ghent, 
Bruges,  and  Tournay. 


ENGLAND.  6o/ 

ENGLAND. 

England,*  in  sculpture  as  well  as  in  architecture,  was  almost 
wholly  dependent  upon  France.  Indeed,  the  relations  were  even 
more  intimate  in  the  former  branch ;  for,  while  Gothic  architecture 
in  England  had  been  preceded  by  the  Norman  Romanic  style,  which, 
not  having  originated  upon  British  soil,  had,  in  the  course  of  time, 
though  developed  local  peculiarities,  there  was  no  older  sculpture 
of  consequence  in  England  to  which  the  Gothic  was  obliged  to  ac- 
commodate itself.  Two  circumstances,  however,  gave  somewhat  of 
a  national  stamp  to  the  imported  art.  The  first  of  these  was  the 
greater  importance  attached  to  sculptured  funeral  monuments  than 
to  religious  images,  which  latter, — though  at  times  eminently  suc- 
cessful, as  in  the  cathedrals  of  Wells  and  Lincoln, — were  but  rarely 
brought  into  connection  with  the  portal,  where  in  France  they  had 
found  their  highest  development.  The  second  reason  was  the  com- 
bination of  the  French  with  other  foreign  influences,  among  which 
those  of  the  Netherlands  and  the  Rhenish  countries  were  fully 
equalled  in  importance  by  those  of  Tuscany. 

The  predominance  of  funeral  monuments  naturally  furthered  re- 
alistic studies,  which  were  altogether  more  adapted  to  the  national 
character  than  was  the  idealism  of  the  French.  A  tendency  to  real- 
ism is  noticeable  in  the  earliest  Gothic  works  of  England,  even 
when  these  were  executed  by  foreign  artists.  A  good  instance  is  the 
tomb  of  King  John  (d,  1216)  in  the  Cathedral  of  Worcester,  which 
has  recently  been  brought  to  light.  Not  only  the  costume,  but  the 
features  of  the  face,  are  more  true  to  nature  and  to  the  individual, 
— more  closely  imitated  from  the  dead  body, — than  is  the  case  with 
the  tomb  of  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion  at  Fontevrault.  The  monu- 
ment placed  above  the  heart  of  this  last-named  king  in  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Rouen  is  strikingly  similar  to  that  of  his  brother,  King 
John,  at  Worcester,  this  making  it  probable  that  Norman  artists 
were  employed  in  both  cases. 


*  C.  A.  Stothard,  Monumental  Effigies  of  Great  Britain.  London,  1817. — J.  Flaxman, 
Lectures  on  Sculpture.  London,  1829. — Ch.  Boutell,  Christian  Monuments  in  England 
and  Wales.  London,  1849. 


6o8 


GOTHIC   SCULPTURE. 


While  in  the  tombs  of  prelates  the  solemn  repose  and  the  sym- 
metrical position  of  the  French  figures  was  maintained, — instance 
the  effigy  of  Bishop  Bridport  (Fig.  382), — in  those  of  knights  there 
was  a  liveliness  of  gesture  which  contrasted  strongly  with  the  quiet- 
ness of  death,  indicated  by  the  pillow  under  the  head.  This  is  of 


Fig.  382. — Monument  of  Bishop  Brid- 
port (d.  1262),  in  the  Cathedral  of 
Salisbury. 


Fig.  383. — Monument  of  William  Long- 
spec  (d.  about  1250),  in  the  Cathedral 
of  Salisbury. 


course  not  so  marked  in  the  instances  where  the  motion  is  restricted 
to  an  energetic  turn  of  the  head, — as  in  the  monument  of  William 
Longspee  (Fig.  383), —  though  even  here  the  conception  seems  to 
have  been  derived  rather  from  an  upright  than  from  a  recumbent 
body.  Not  uncommonly  the  figure  is  represented  as  in  the  act  of 
drawing  the  sword,  or  with  the  legs  crossed.  This  latter  position 


ENGLAND.  609 

is  not  necessarily  significant  of  a  Crusader,  as  is  usually  assumed  in 
England,  the  same  peculiarity  being  also  observable  after  the  time 
of  the  Crusades.  The  artist,  however,  had  the  right  feeling  in  lim- 
iting the  action  to  the  figures  represented  in  coat  of  mail,  while  the 
rigid  position  of  the  others  is  in  harmony  with  the  inflexible  char- 
acter of  their  armor  of  steel  plates. 

Italian  and  German  influences  early  made  themselves  felt  in* 
England,  together  with  the  French,  especially  in  metal  work.  King 
Henry  III.,  who  reigned  between  1216  and  1272,  called  to  his  court 
German  goldsmiths  and  masters  of  the  mint,  as  well  as  Italian  paint- 
ers. And  the  employment  of  Italian  sculptors,  who  in  the  thir- 
teenth century  far  surpassed  the  painters  of  that  country,  is  proved 
by  existing  remains.  The  finest  among  the  royal  monuments  of  the 
thirteenth  century  in  Westminster  Abbey,  that  of  Henry  III.  and 
that  of  the  wife  of  Edward  I.,  Queen  Eleanor,  who  died  in  1290,  are 
unmistakably  to  be  ascribed  to  Italians  of  the  school  of  the  Pisani. 
Even  the  name  of  the  artist,  William  Torell,  may  well  have  been 
Italian. 

The  influence  of  these  works  is  to  be  traced  in  those  immediate- 
ly succeeding  them,  although  these  latter  betray  characteristics  re- 
sulting from  the  combination  of  various  models,  and  were  probably 
executed  by  native  designers.  The  possessions  of  the  English  kings 
in  Western  France,  and  the  predilection  for  colored  decoration,  ap- 
parent in  the  English  stone  sculptures,  naturally  led  to  the  adoption 
of  the  enamel  work  of  Limoges  in  bronze  monuments  and  in  the 
inlaid  parts  of  stone  sarcophagi.  Even  more  in  vogue  were  the 
brasses,  which,  with  or  without  engraving,  were  almost  exclusively 
imported  from  Germany.  The  designation  of  these  as  "  Cullen 
plates  "  suggests  Cologne  as  the  place  whence  they  were  chiefly  ob- 
tained, while  the  similarity  in  style  of  the  finest  works  of  the  kind 
to  those  of  the  coasts  of  the  Baltic,  especially  Dantzic,  indicates 
their  derivation  from  the  more  Northern  district.  Engraved  brasses 
attached  to  tombs  of  stone  soon,  however,  became  so  common  that 
the  demand  could  no  longer  be  wholly  supplied  by  importations 
from  abroad. 

The  works  of  the  fourteenth  century  are,  in  general,  far  inferior 
to  those  of  the  time  of  Henry  III.  The  native  artists  ceased  to 

39 


6io  GOTHIC   SCULPTURE. 

depend  upon  models  from  the  Continent,  and  their  productions 
became  more  and  more  mechanical  and  uninteresting.  Even  the 
attempt  to  render  the  costume  accurately  was  in  some  ways  a  dis- 
advantage, for  the  dress  of  the  higher  classes  had  by  no  means  im- 
proved in  picturesque  respects.  The  heavy  and  showy  armor  of  the 
knights  of  the  tournament,  impeding  the  movements  formerly  per- 
mitted by  the  coat  of  mail,  was  as  entirely  without  beauty  or  grace 
as  were  the  richly -decorated  and  stiffly -laced  court  robes,  which 
upon  the  monuments  had  superseded  the  soft  folds  of  the  ideal  fem- 
inine dress.  Moreover,  the  constant  endeavor  of  the  artists  was  to 
give  expression  to  conceptions  entirely  opposed  to  those  which  had 
developed  upon  the  Continent.  While  in  other  parts  of  Europe  the 
representations  became  more  easy  and  full  of  action,  the  English, 
whose  tombs  of  knights  had,  in  the  thirteenth  century,  been  superior 
to  those  of  other  nations,  intentionally  returned  to  an  extreme  rigid- 
ity in  their  attempt  to  give  the  clearest  possible  expression  of  death. 
These  tendencies  were  in  some  respects  suited  to  the  subject,  and 
were  not  wholly  the  outcome  of  a  dry  and  unimaginative  realism  ; 
still,  the  ideal  characterization  of  death  as  a  sweet  sleep,  which  was 
the  fundamental  principle  of  the  Continental  conception,  is  far  more 
poetical  and  preferable  in  every  respect.  Especially  in  the  tombs 
of  persons  of  lesser  degree,  where  no  signal  effort  was  required  of 
the  artist,  the  stiff  inanity  of  the  English  figures  contrasts  strikingly 
with  the  elegance  and  grace  of  design  of  the  French,  and  with  the 
spiritual  expression  of  the  German  works.  In  the  more  prominent 
monuments,  such  as  that  of  the  Black  Prince  (d.  1376)  in  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Canterbury,  these  deficiencies  are  compensated  by  the  excel- 
lence of  the  execution,  especially  in  the  details  and  accessaries,  and 
by  the  rich  architectural  treatment  of  the  sarcophagi,  the  mural  dec- 
orations, canopies,  etc. 

The  ecclesiastical  sculpture  of  the  fourteenth  century,  which 
from  the  first  had  been  less  productive  than  in  France  and  Ger- 
many, suffered  grievously  at  the  hands  of  the  Puritan  Iconoclasts 
of  the  seventeenth  century.  Still,  enough  remains  to  show  that 
this  branch  of  art  had  followed  a  course  of  development  quite  dif- 
ferent from  that  observable  in  the  funeral  monuments.  The  ele- 
gance of  treatment,  which  the  English  had  derived  from  the  Conti- 


GERMANY.  6 1  I 

nent  in  the  thirteenth  century,  was  increased  during  the  fourteenth, 
until  the  weak  grace,  corresponding  to  the  flowing  style  in  archi- 
tecture, led  in  sculpture  to  a  reaction,  well  to  be  compared  with  the 
perpendicular  style.  The  sculptures  of  the  fagades  and  the  porti- 
cos of  the  cathedrals  of  Lichfield  and  Exeter  are,  at  least  in  part, 
skilful  and  harmonious  in  execution  ;  the  series  of  kings,  especially, 
being  of  a  dramatic  effect,  and  having  a  certain  historical  signifi- 
cance. On  the  other  hand,  the  effigies  of  this  kind  upon  the  fagade 
of  the  Cathedral  of  Lincoln,  dating  from  the  close  of  the  four- 
teenth century,  strikingly  illustrate  the  debasing  influence  of  the 
perpendicular  style  upon  sculpture. 

In  the  fifteenth  century  the  decadence  of  English  art  was  so 
complete  that,  as  in  the  beginning,  it  was  necessary  to  engage  for- 
eigners in  all  really  important  undertakings.  Even  in  France  and 
Burgundy,  where  the  Gothic  style  had  originated,  Flemish  artists 
were  preferred,  and  it  was  only  natural  that  England  should  first 
apply  for  help  to  the  neighboring  Netherlands.  The  influences  of 
Northern  France,  of  Germany,  and  of  Italy  also  made  themselves 
felt.  Notwithstanding  the  warlike  character  of  the  times,  and  the 
constant  internal  dissensions,  the  peculiar  disposition  of  the  English 
is  already  apparent :  they  generally  considering  works  of  art  rather 
as  material  possessions  than  as  opportunities  for  independent  cre- 
ation. Thus  foreign  countries  more  frequently  exported  their  pro- 
ductions to  England  than  affected  it  by  their  artistic  traditions.  To 
this  must  be  added  that  the  love  of  art  manifested  itself  in  the  col- 
lection of  small  objects,  and  not  in  monumental  works,  sculpture  in 
precious  metals  and  jewels  being  preferred  to  that  in  stone.  The 
material  value  of  these  trinkets  was  even  enhanced  by  the  fact  that 
they  were  brought  from  afar.  Thus,  during  all  subsequent  ages,  the 
artistic  possessions  of  England  were  chiefly  of  foreign  origin,  and 
native  productions  were  altogether  of  secondary  importance. 

GERMANY. 

At  the  close  of  the  Romanic  epoch,  and  even  during  the  first 
stages  in  the  development  of  Gothic  architecture,  France  produced 
no  sculptures  equal  in  importance  to  those  of  Freiberg  and  Wech- 
selburg.  In  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century,  however,  Ger- 


6l2  GOTHIC   SCULPTURE. 

many  in  this  branch  by  no  means  kept  pace  with  the  rapid  advance 
of  France.  The  German  productions  of  the  transitional  period  were 
inferior  to  the  sculptures  of  the  French  cathedrals,  and  as  late  as 
the  second  half  of  the  thirteenth  century,  when  compared  with  the 
before-mentioned  Saxon  works,  show  this  branch  of  art  to  have  re- 
mained at  a  stand-still,  if  not  to  have  declined. 

Notwithstanding  the  tenacity  with  which  Germany  clung  to  the 
Romanic  style,  a  compromise  was  attempted  in  architecture  by 
which,  one  by  one,  the  constructive  and  decorative  improvements 
of  the  French  were  introduced  into  the  Romanic  system.  German 
sculptors  endeavored  to  give  new  vitality  to  their  art  in  a  similar 
manner.  The  sculptures  of  the  choir  of  St.  George  in  Bamberg. 
consisting  of  fourteen  reliefs  which  represent  apostles,  prophets,  an- 
gels, etc.,  have  at  least  something  more  of  animation  than  the  Ro- 
manic works.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  sculptured  decorations 
of  the  portals  of  the  Church  of  Our  Lady  at  Treves,  of  the  Colle- 
giate Church  at  Wetzlar,  and  even  of  the  eastern  portal  of  the 
Cathedral  of  Bamberg,  also  of  those  of  the  south  portal  of  the  Ca- 
thedral at  Muenster,  and  of  the  western  portal  of  the  transept  of 
the  Cathedral  of  Paderborn,  which  are  referable  with  certainty  to 
the  second  half  of  the  thirteenth  century.  In  all  these  edifices  of 
the  transitional  style  the  sculptured  decoration  is  rather  in  harmo- 
ny with  the  round -arched  portals  than  with  the  Gothic  features 
appearing  in  the  other  parts  of  these  buildings. 

At  this  period,  however,  the  Gothic  character  was,  so  to  speak, 
latent  in  sculpture,  although  an  occasional  attempt  was  made  to 
free  this  art  from  the  Romanic  limitations.  Those  intimate  rela- 
tions with  nature,  the  lifting  of  the  veil  which,  in  the  Gothic,  was 
attempted  rather  through  feeling  than  through  the  understanding, 
that  preponderance  of  ideal  and  spiritual  conception  over  forcible- 
ness  of  action  which  characterized  Gothic  art,  and  forms  at  once  its 
strength  and  its  weakness, — of  all  this  there  was  as  yet  scarcely  a 
trace.  It  was  exceptional  that  any  effort  was  made  to  temper  eccle- 
siastical dignity  with  a  touch  of  loveliness  and  grace  ;  and  a  striving 
after  truthfulness  to  nature  in  the  nude  figures,  such  as  may  be  ob- 
served in  the  Adam  and  Eve  of  the  portal  at  Bamberg,  was  still 
more  rare.  Even  in  this  instance  the  traditional  inflexibility  and 


GERMANY.  613 

the  influence  of  the  former  classicism  of  Bamberg  had  not  been  en- 
tirely outgrown,  the  figure  of  Eve,  especially,  resembling  in  many 
ways  the  archaic  types  of  Greek  art.  Still,  some  attempt  is  here 
apparent  to  shake  off  the  mechanical  character,  and  by  close  ob- 
servation to  attain  a  higher  beauty  of  form  than  that  of  the  conven- 
tional artistic  traditions. 

It  was  certainly  not  fortuitous  that  Saxony,  which  in  Freiberg 
and  Wechselburg  had  produced  the  first  works  of  the  transitional 
style,  should  also  have  been  foremost  in  the  Gothic  sculpture  of 
Germany.  The  earliest  monuments  of  the  latter  class  are  the 
twelve  statues,  dating  from  about  1270,  which  Bishop  Dietrich  of 
Naumburg  erected  in  the  cathedral  of  that  town  in  honor  of  the 
former  benefactors  of  the  church.  These  figures  in  life-like  concep- 
tion and  expression  far  surpass  those  of  Henry  II.  and  Cunigunda, 
on  the  eastern  portal  of  Bamberg,  and  mark  the  beginning  of  an 
entirely  new  phase  of  art,  which  has  scarcely  a  trait  in  common 
with  the  older  Saxon  works  before  mentioned.  There  is  no  trace 
of  the  typical  positions  or  of  the  traditional  treatment  of  the  gar- 
ments. Each  figure  and  head  shows  that  it  was  imitated  from  an 
individual  model,  and  the  original  and  effective  draperies  are  also 
direct  studies  from  nature.  Still,  there  is  no  absolute  realism  in 
these  noble  and  ideal  figures.  Some  defects  are  to  be  observed  in 
the  proportions,  and  if  all  the  parts  of  the  body  except  the  heads 
and  the  hands  had  not  been  hidden  by  the  drapery,  the  uncertainty 
in  the  study  of  nature,  and  the  fact  that  the  artist  looked  at  life 
with  sentiment  rather  than  understanding,  would  have  been  more 
clearly  manifest.  These  imperfections,  however,  do  not  preclude 
the  impression  that  the  traditional  limitations  still  evident  in  the 
figures  of  Freiberg  and  Bamberg  have  here  been  outgrown,  and 
that  the  chisel  was  guided  by  a  new  power  of  great  promise.  This 
deserves  the  higher  praise,  as  these  works  in  no  wise  imitate  the 
courtly  elegance  of  the  French,  but  in  conception  and  expression 
are  thoroughly  national.  Creations  of  such  excellence  naturally 
resulted  in  the  establishment  of  a  school,  the  work  of  which  is  seen 
in  the  somewhat  later  statues  of  the  emperor  Otto  I.  and  his  wife, 
of  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  and  of  St.  Donatus  in  the  choir  of  the 
Cathedral  at  Meissen. 


614  GOTHIC   SCULPTURE. 

In  contrast  to  the  independence  of  these  Saxon  productions, 
those  of  the  Rhenish  countries  betray,  in  great  measure,  the  influ- 
ence of  France.  The  sculptures  of  the  portal  of  the  south  transept 
of  the  Strasburg  Cathedral,  dating  from  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  were  executed  by  a  woman,  by  the  name  of  Sabina.  With 
exception  of  the  two  symbolical  figures  of  Church  and  Synagogue, 
and  the  tympanon  relief  of  the.  Death  of  the  Virgin  (Fig.  384),  all 
these  works  have  disappeared ;  among  them  the  statue  which  bore 
the  inscription  of  the  artist.  Since  the  tradition  that  this  Sabina 


Fig.  384. — The  Death  of  the  Virgin.     Tympanon  Relief  from  the  Cathedral  of  Strasburg. 

was  the  daughter  of  Master  Erwin  von  Steinbach  has  been  proved 
false,  the  interest  in  her  creations  has  diminished,  especially  as  those 
which  have  been  preserved,  while  very  similar  to  the  contemporary 
works  of  France,  are  in  artistic  respects  far  inferior  to  the  sculpt- 
ures of  Rheims.  The  youthful  types,  the  graceful  slenderness  of 
the  figures,  the  flowing  draperies,  the  sentimental  inclination  of  the 
heads,  with  the  sweetness  of  the  faces,  the  somewhat  affected  pose 
of  one  of  the  hips,  which  from  this  time  appears  so  universally  in 
Gothic  works, — all  are  here  fully  pronounced.  The  figures  express 


GERMANY.  615 

but  little  thought,  even  the  noble  elegance  of  the  French  models 
degenerating  into  affectation  and  coquetry. 

Few  traces  of  this  debasement  appear  in  the  figures  of  the  Min- 
ster of  Freiburg,  dating  from  about  1270;  on  the  contrary,  they  are 
rendered  attractive  by  a  variety  of  graceful  traits  and  flowing  lines. 
In  the  sculptured  decoration  of  the  western  fagade  of  the  Strasburg 
Cathedral,  referable  to  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century,  the  ele- 
ments of  decline  are  clearly  perceptible  when  the  attention  is  turned 
from  the  imposing  effect  of  the  entire  mass  to  a  close  observation 
of  the  details.  The  colossal  figures  of  the  Apostles  on  the  piers  of 
the  choir  of  the  Cathedral  of  Cologne,  executed  before  the  middle 
of  the  fourteenth  century,  are  of  somewhat  greater  artistic  merit, 
being  remarkable  for  the  more  vigorous  character  expressed  in  the 
attitudes,  and  for  the  careful  and  exact  drawing  of  the  nude  parts. 
The  fine  draperies  already  betray  the  peculiarity  of  the  German  • 
Gothic,  in  seeking  to  produce  an  effect  by  a  superabundance  of  long 
and  full  garments,  but  as  yet  do  not  show  those  wrinkled  puffs 
which  were  afterwards  so  prominent.  The  French  character,  how- 
ever, is  still  evident,  although  pervaded  with  German  sentiment. 
The  direct  influence  of  France  is  manifest,  also,  in  the  sculptures  of 
the  Collegiate  Church  at  Wimpfen  in  Thai.  (Compare  page  550.) 

The  development  of  sculpture  was  essentially  different  in  the 
ecclesiastical  edifices  of  Middle  Franconia,  and  especially  of  Nurem- 
berg, which  town,  after  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century, 
became  a  centre  of  mediaeval  art.  The  conceptions  were  here  not 
derived  from  the  life  of  the  courts  and  of  the  Cavaliers,  but  rather 
from  that  of  the  burghers,  which  accorded  better  with  the  character 
of  the  free  city.  A  simple  beauty  was  thus  attained,  without  the 
aristocratic  traits  so  prominent  in  France  and  the  cities  of  the  Rhine. 
This  is  exemplified  in  the  rich  portal  sculptures  of  the  Church  of 
St.  Laurence,  and  even  more  clearly  in  the  numerous  statues  of  the 
Church  of  Our  Lady,  built  between  1355  and  1361  (Fig.  386).  The 
figures  upon  the  fine  portico  of  the  latter  are  ascribed  by  tradition 
to  one  Sebald  Schonhofer,  who  is  otherwise  unknown.  To  the 
same  class  belong  also  the  sculptured  decorations  of  the  Schoener 
Brunnen.  Owing  to  the  frequent  restorations,  however,  little  re- 
mains of  the  original  work,  executed  between  1385  and  1396  by 


6i6 


GOTHIC   SCULPTURE. 


Heinrich  der  Balier.     These  excellent  productions  had  a  significant 
and  far-reaching  influence,  which  not  only  resulted  in  making  Nu- 
remberg and  the  surrounding  places  famous  for  their  sculptures, 
but  also  prepared   the  way  for  the  painting 
of  this  school.     That  the  bourgeois  character 
did  not  militate  against  coquettish  elegance 
and  sentimental  grace  is  shown  by  the  Wise 
and  Foolish  Virgins  of  the  Bridal  Door  of  St. 
Sebaldus,  referable  to  the  close  of  the  four- 
teenth century. 

The  exaggerated  length  of  the  bodies  and 
the  weak  curves  of  the  positions  and  draperies 
are  quite  as  prominent  in  the  Nuremberg 
sculptures  as  in  those  of  the  Rhenish  coun- 
tries and  of  France ;  hence  it  cannot  be  as- 
sumed that  the  attenuation  was  brought 
about  merely  through  an  imitation  of  the 
elegant  forms  of  the  upper  classes,  or  that 
the  bending  postures,  which  contrasted  so 
strikingly  with  the  straight-lined  parallelism 
of  the  preceding  period,  were  the  expression 
of  courtly  ideals  alone.  The  cause  is  to  be 
sought  in  the  architectural  surroundings  rath- 
er than  in  living  models.  The  slenderness  of 
the  figures  was,  in  great  measure,  dependent 
upon  the  attenuated  architectural  framework; 
while  the  supple  inclination  of  the  bodies  and 
the  folds  of  the  draperies  were,  in  like  man- 
ner, the  reflex  of  the  curved  lines  of  the 
Gothic  methods  of  construction.  These  char- 
acteristics may  be  considered  as  results  of  the 

Fig.  385-— Figure  of  a  Proph-  J  .         . 

et,  from  the  Church  of  Our   same  process  of  development  which,  in  archi- 
Lady,  Nuremberg.  tecture,  led  to  the  flamboyant  style.     In  both 

arts  the  same  weak  tendencies  are  recogniza- 
ble,— the  same  degeneration  of  earnestness  and  dignity  into  frivol- 
ity and  sentimental  grace. 

The  carving  of  funeral  monuments  was  an  important  branch  of 


GERMANY.  6l/ 

stone  sculpture,  and,  in  Germany  as  in  England,  was  of  great  individ- 
uality and  independence.  The  monuments  of  Henry  the  Lion  and 
his  wife  in  the  Cathedral  of  Brunswick,  of  the  Landgrave  Conrad  in 
the  Church  of  St.  Elisabeth  in  Marburg,  of 
Count  Ulrich  of  Wurtemberg  and  his  wife  in 
the  Collegiate  Church  of  Stuttgart,  all  refer- 
able to  the  thirteenth  century,  are  remarkable 
works;  in  artistic  excellence,  in  quiet  dignity 
and  ideal  rather  than  realistic  conception, 
they  fully  equal  the  before-mentioned  sculpt- 
ures of  the  Cathedral  of  Naumburg.  The 
treatment  was,  of  course,  entirely  ideal  in  the 
monuments  which,  like  those  of  the  Mero- 
vingians, Carolingians,  and  Capets  in  St.  Den- 
is, were  erected  in  honor  of  personages  long 
deceased.  To  this  class  belong  the  tombs  of 
Aurelia,  daughter  of  Hugh  Capet,  of  Queen 
Uta,  wife  of  the  Carolingian  Arnulph  (Fig". 
386),  and  of  Duke  Henry  of  Bavaria,  in  St. 
Emmeramnus  at  Ratisbon.  They  are  readily 
distinguishable  from  Romanic  works  by  the 
youthfulness  of  their  types,  and  the  gentle 
sentiment  expressed  in  their  faces. 

In  the  fourteenth  century  a  more  decided 
realism  appears  in  this  branch  of  art.     Some 
attempt  at  portraiture  is  unmistakable  even 
in  the  engraved  (sgraffito)  memorial  tablets 
(Fig.  387).      Such   delineations,  however,  be- 
long rather  to  the  province  of  painting,  and 
were    chiefly   employed   in    connection   with 
works  in  metal.      The  life-like  character  is 
still  more  strongly  marked  in  the  monuments 
executed  in  high-relief,  although  it  is  not  al- 
ways of  good  effect,  especially  in  those  cases  where  the  figure,  con- 
ceived as  sleeping  or  dead,  is  represented  in  lively  action  instead  of 
with  the  hands  folded,  as  customary.     A  contradiction  of  ideas  nat- 
urally resulted   in  such   instances,  similar  to  that  which  has  been 


Fig.  386. — Funeral  Monu- 
ment of  Queen  Uta,  in  the 
Church  of  St.  Emmeram- 
nus, Ratisbon. 


6i8 


GOTHIC   SCULPTURE. 


noticed  in  the  English  images  of  knights,  with  the  head  resting 
upon  the  death-pillow,  while  the  legs  are  represented  as  in  motion, 
or  the  hand  as  drawing  the  sword.  It  was  not  less  incongruous 
when  the  reclining  figure  of  a  bishop  was  shown  in  the  act  of 
crowning  kings, — as  is  to  be  observed  upon  the  monument  of  the 
Archbishop  Siegfried  von  Epstein  (d.  1249),  with  the  two  kings 

Henry  Raspe  and  William  of 
Holland,  in  the  Cathedral  of 
Mayence,  as  well  as  upon  the 
more  elaborate  tomb  of  Arch- 
bishop Peter  von  Aspelt  (d. 
1320),  with  the  three  kings, 
Henry  VII.,  Louis  the  Bavarian, 
and  John  of  Bohemia.  More- 
over, the  figures  of  the  kings, 
with  simpering  faces,  half-grown, 
and  reaching  only  to  the  knees 
of  the  bishops,  have  a  most 
childish  and  undignified  appear- 
ance, while  the  gestures  of  the 
ecclesiastics  are  unnatural  and 
wholly  wanting  in  grace.  Most 
of  the  funeral  monuments,  how- 
ever, were  free  from  such  bom- 
bastic striving  after  effect.  In 
those  of  priestly  dignitaries,  es- 
pecially, the  action  was  limited 
to  the  bearing  of  the  attributes, 
the  crozier,  and  the  book  (Fig. 
388),  or  to  the  act  of  blessing 
with  the  uplifted  right  hand. 
The  long  liturgical  garments,  with  their  many  folds,  and  the  insig- 
nia of  the  bishops,  were  better  adapted  to  representation  than  was 
the  knightly  armor  of  the  time.  From  similar  reasons  the  fem- 
inine figures  were,  as  a  rule,  more  successful.  In  these  the  noble, 
Madonna-like  maidenliness  characteristic  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
and  particularly  of  the  art  of  France,  gave  way,  in  the  fourteenth,  to 


Fig.  387. — Engraved  Brass  from  the  Tomb  of 
the  Priest  Gerard  von  Lynden  (d.  1366)  at 
Nossendorf,  near  Demmin. 


GERMANY.  619 

a  more  matronly  and  bourgeois  conception.  The  preference  for  a 
superabundance  of  folds  in  the  drapery,  peculiar  to  the  Germans, 
made  itself  more  and  more  felt. 

In  Germany,  as  in  France,  the 
sculptures  of  the  thirteenth  and 
fourteenth  centuries  were  chiefly  of 
stone,  taken  from  the  same  quarries 
which  supplied  the  blocks  for  the 
architectural  framework.  The  con- 
nection between  architecture  and 
sculpture  was  so  intimate  that  a 
different  material  was  but  rarely 
employed  for  the  latter;  indeed, 
the  decorative  details,  both  of  fig- 
ures and  of  conventionalized  pat- 
terns, were  commonly  executed  by 
the  same  guild  of  artists.  In  those 
provinces  where  brick  was  almost 
exclusively  in  use,  the  lack  of  stone 
naturally  led,  in  the  few  works  of 
sculpture,  to  the  adoption  of  clay 
as  a  substitute.  Sculptures  of  this 
material  are  most  frequent  in  North 
Germany.  Of  especial  importance 
among  them  are  the  statues  of  the 
Golden  Portal  at  Marienburg  in 
Prussia,  representing  the  Wise  and 
the  Foolish  Virgins, — allegorical  of 
the  Church  and  the  Synagogue. 
Attempts  in  clay,  colored  and 
glazed,  were  more  rare,  and  seem 
to  have  been  produced  only  in  Sax- 
ony ;  some  few  examples  are  to  be 
seen  in  the  Museum  of  the  Grosser 
Garten  in  Dresden,  and  in  the  Ger- 
manic Museum  at  Nuremberg. 

Until  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century  carvings  in  wood  re- 


Fig.  388. — Monument  of  the  Archbishop 
Conrad  II.  von  Weinsperg  (d.  1396),  in 
the  Cathedral  of  Mayence. 


620  GOTHIC   SCULPTURE. 

mained  as  subordinate  in  artistic  respects  as  they  had  been  during 
the  Romanic  epoch.  Such  works  as  the  beautiful  group  of  the 
Crucifixion  at  Wechselburg,  which  dates  to  the  beginning  of  the 
transitional  period,  and,  according  to  Bode,  originally  surmounted 
the  roodloft,  were  not  produced  in  this  branch  during  the  two  sub- 
sequent centuries.  Carvings  in  wood  lost  their  all-important  stylist- 
ic peculiarity  by  being  covered  with  a  thick  priming  of  chalk,  ap- 
plied either  directly  upon  the  kernel,  or  upon  strips  of  linen  cloth 
glued  over  the  wood,  after  which  the  whole  was  painted,  —  this 
treatment  having  been  devised  in  order  to  make  them  resemble 
stone  sculptures  as  closely  as  possible.  Works  of  this  kind  are  to 
be  found  in  the  Chapel  of  the  Trausnitz,  and  upon  the  funeral  mon- 
uments of  Duke  Louis  of  Kelheim  (d.  1231),  and  his  wife  Ludmilla 
of  Bogen  (d.  1240),  in  the  Convent  of  Seligenthal  at  Landshut  in 
Bavaria;  also  upon  that  of  Duke  Henry  II.  of  Sayn,  in  the  Convent 
Church  of  Sayn,  and  upon  that  of  Count  Ludolf  in  the  Collegiate 
Church  near  Gandersheim.  All  of  these,  together  with  various  cru- 
cifixes and  Madonnas,  are  of  the  transitional  style.  Towards  the 
close  of  the  fourteenth  century  sculptures  in  wood  became  more 
frequent  in  the  details  of  roodlofts  and  altars.  Although  the  Ro- 
manic traditions  had  been  given  up  in  favor  of  Gothic  forms,  the 
dependence  upon  stone  models  in  conventional  respects  is  still  evi- 
dent, and  there  is  manifest  a  desire  to  make  the  material  resemble 
stone  as  closely  as  possible. 

In  the  metal-work  of  this  age,  as  compared  with  that  of  the  Ro- 
manic epoch,  there  was  a  marked  decline.  The  casting  in  bronze  of 
small  objects  with  simple  ornamentation  continued  to  be  practised, 
especially  by  the  guild  of  the  "  Apengeter,"  who  worked  in  brass 
alloy,  and  by  that  of  the  "  Grapengeter,"  or  actual  bronze  founders. 
The  larger  productions,  such  as  candlesticks  and  baptismal  fonts, 
were  decidedly  inferior  to  the  corresponding  Romanic  works,  as  is 
proved  by  the  baptismal  font  in  the  Cathedral  of  VVurzburg,  exe- 
cuted in  1279  by  Master  Eckart,  of  Worms,  and  that  in  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Rostock,  dating  from  1290.  In  general,  the  Romanic  types 
were  closely  followed  in  this  industry,  the  more  as  the  architectural 
style  of  the  Gothic  was  not  well  adapted  to  such  utensils.  An  ab- 
solute progress  is  to  be  observed  only  in  the  casting  of  bells,  which 


GERMANY.  621 

were  of  greater  size  and  more  artistically  decorated,  the  improve- 
ment being  first  manifest  in  the  bell  of  the  Church  of  St.  Burchard 
at  Wurzburg,  cast  in  1249.  It  is  said,  however,  that  the  bell  "  Can- 
tabona,"  of  the  Cathedral  of  Hildesheim,  cast  in  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury, and  cracked  in  1590,  weighed  five  tons, — a  weight  which  was 
not  exceeded  until  the  fifteenth  century. 

In  figure  subjects  the  casting  of  such  doors  as  those  of  the  Ro- 
manic cathedrals  was  entirely  discontinued  in  the  Gothic  epoch. 
Bronze  funeral  monuments  in  relief  were  rare  in  the  thirteenth  and 
fourteenth  centuries,  the  finest  being  that  of  the  Archbishop  Conrad 
von  Hochstaden  (d.  1261)  in  the  Cathedral  of  Cologne,  and  that  of 
Bishop  Henry  Bockholt  (d.  1341)  in  the  Cathedral  of  Lubeck. 
Only  one  statue  is  to  be  mentioned  as  belonging  to  this  period,  the 
equestrian  monument  of  St.  George,  under  life  size,  in  the  court  of 
the  Palace  of  Prague,  cast  in  1373  by  Martin  and  George  von  Clus- 
senbach.  All  these  productions  are  destitute  of  the  peculiar  char- 
acteristics of  metal -work,  clearly  betraying  their  dependence  upon 
stone  sculpture.  A  greater  conformity  of  the  style  to  the  material 
appears  in  the  numerous  engraved  brasses,  which  seem  to  have  been 
chiefly  executed  in  Cologne  and  Lubeck.  The  oldest  of  the  kind  is 
the  memorial  tablet  of  Bishop  Yso  (d.  1231)  in  the  Church  of  St. 
Andrews  at  Verden.  Good  examples  have  been  preserved  in  Lu- 
beck and  in  other  towns  of  the  North  German  Lowlands,  especially 
Schwerin,  Stralsund,  and  Thorn ;  also  in  Breslau,  Paderborn,  and  in 
the  vicinity  of  Cologne.  Plates  of  metal  inserted  in  stone,  such  as 
those  common  in  England,  are  more  rare. 

Work  in  the  precious  metals,  notably  throughout  the  provinces 
of  the  Lower  Rhine,  long  adhered  to  Romanic  traditions.  It  was 
not  until  towards  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century  that  small  ob- 
jects began  to  bear  a  peculiarly  Gothic  stamp, — the  decorative  fig- 
ures showing  the  slender  and  elegant  proportions  developed  in  stone 
sculpture,  and  the  ornamentation  being  derived  from  the  details  of 
Gothic  architecture.  A  tendency  to  employ  architectural  forms  in 
ecclesiastical  utensils  is  especially  evident  in  the  monstrances,  which 
came  into  general  use  after  the  institution  of  the  festival  of  Corpus 
Christi  in  1316.  The  chalices,  censers,  clasps,  croziers,  etc.,  clearly 
display  this  influence,  as  do  also  the  ivory  carvings,  the  significance 


622  GOTHIC   SCULPTURE. 

of  which,  however,  had  become  much  decreased  by  their  exclusive 
employment  for  secular  purposes. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century  German  sculpture,  not- 
withstanding the  greater  production  and  the  consequent  increase  in 
practice  and  ability,  showed  no  decided  improvement.  On  the  one 
hand  there  was  a  mechanical  mannerism,  and  on  the  other  a  desire 
to  produce  an  effect  through  exaggeration  and  a  certain  theatrical 
pathos.  What  in  the  fourteenth  century  had  been  an  expression 
of  sentiment  now  became  a  grimace ;  what  had  been  animation  and 
grace  degenerated  into  affectation.  The  spiritual  tenderness  and 
delicacy  of  the  Rhenish  countries  declined  into  effeminacy;  the 
bourgeois  element  of  Franconia  and  Saxony  into  hardness  and 
coarseness.  The  increasing  realism  was  in  some  ways  a  disadvan- 
tage, especially  in  those  districts  where  the  race  was  ill-favored,  and 
where,  consequently,  it  was  not  of  good  effect  so  to  represent  indi- 
vidual peculiarities  that,  in  striving  after  a  striking  characterization, 
the  figures  were  well-nigh  caricatured,  instead  of  being  ennobled 
and  idealized. 

During  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries  artistic  activity 
was  almost  entirely  restricted  to  sculpture  in  stone,  and  the  style 
thus  developed  naturally  continued  to  display  its  dependence  upon 
architecture ;  in  the  fifteenth,  on  the  other  hand,  wood-carving  be- 
came predominant,  and  determined  the  tendencies  and  style  of  the 
art  of  that  age.  Sculptured  decoration  was  applied  less  to  the  por- 
tals than  to  altars,  choir-stools,  and  other  furnishings  of  the  interior. 
For  such  purposes  stone  was  unsuitable,  not  being  susceptive  of  the 
requisite  lightness  and  delicacy,  or  of  the  polychromatic  treatment 
necessary  to  harmonize  with  the  colored  illumination.  Works  in 
stone  were  also  incapable  of  that  intimate  connection  with  the 
paintings  which  the  taste  of  the  period  demanded. 

The  change  of  material  necessarily  influenced  the  style,  although, 
for  a  time,  the  artistic  ideals  remained  the  same  in  works  of  wood  as 
in  those  of  stone.  This  change  is  particularly  evident  in  the  archi- 
tectural parts  of  the  altars  and  choir- stools,  which,  though  at  first 
imitating  stone  models,  soon  lost  the  technical  peculiarities  charac- 
teristic of  those  productions.  Thus  there  was  attained  a  slenderness 
and  transparency  similar  to  fretwork,  which  could  never  have  re- 


GERMANY.  623 

suited  from  the  practice  of  stone -cutting,  but  which  accorded  well 
with  the  principles  of  joinery ;  the  graceful  effect  produced  was  not 
unlike  that  of  the  painted  architecture  of  Pompeian  wall  decora- 
tions. With  long  experience  in  wood-work  of  this  kind  the  figures 
acquired  those  qualities  always  connected  with  carving  and  exten- 
sive painting  and  gilding.  The  first  of  these  characteristics  was  an 
increased  sharpness  of  the  lines,  by  which  alone,  under  the  altered 
conditions  of  color,  the  desired  effect  could  be  produced.  The  sec- 
ond was  the  different  treatment  of  the  draperies,  with  wrinkles  rath- 
er than  with  folds, — adapted  as  entirely  to  the  fibrous  material  and 
the  use  of  the  carver's  knife  as  the  long  and  straight  folds  were  to 
stone  and  the  work  of  the  statuary's  chisel.  The  projecting  puffs 
were  more  favorable  to  a  brilliant  display  of  color,  and  especially  of 
gilding,  than  smooth  surfaces  and  simple  curves  could  ever  have 
been. 

The  chief  purpose  of  the  paintings,  connected  with  the  sculpt- 
ures upon  the  altars,  was  to  give  a  certain  effect  of  perspective,  the 
stone  sculptures  having  usually  been  treated  in  true  relief.  Thus,  in 
order  to  produce  the  impression  of  foreground,  middle,  and  back- 
ground, the  figures  in  front  were  made  in  the  full  round,  those  in 
the  centre  in  high-relief,  while  the  background,  inclusive  of  the  land- 
scape, was  executed  in  low- relief.  The  reaction  of  polychromatic 
carvings  upon  painting  was,  on  the  whole,  far  greater  than  the  influ- 
ence of  painting  upon  sculpture.  The  Franconian  school,  especially, 
owes  to  wood-carving  its  wrinkled  folds  and  sharp  lines;  these  could 
have  been  developed  neither  by  mural  painting,  by  that  of  minia- 
tures, nor,  least  of  all,  by  painting  upon  glass.  Although  the  artists 
endeavored  to  give  a  harmonious  unity  to  the  painted  and  carved 
portions  of  the  altars,  it  was  not  by  imitating  the  painted  panels ; 
on  the  contrary,  these  latter  rather  show  the  desire  to  attain  an 
effect  similar  to  that  of  the  polychromatic  reliefs.  The  greatest  im- 
portance was  attached  to  the  sculptured  central  part  of  the  trip- 
tychs,  and  even  the  more  elaborate  inner  sides  of  the  wings  were 
often  executed  in  relief.  Sculpture  in  stone  itself  was  at  last  so  de- 
cidedly influenced  by  that  in  wood  that,  towards  the  close  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  not  only  reliefs  but  even  statues  of  stone  exhib- 
ited all  the  characteristics  of  wood -carving,  seeming  to  be  exact 


624  GOTHIC   SCULPTURE. 

copies  of  carved  models,  in  the  same  way  as,  a  hundred  years  before, 
stone  sculptures  had  been  imitated  in  wood. 

Although  during  the  fifteenth  century  painters  and  wood-carvers 
belonged  to  the  same  guild,  and  frequently  occupied  a  common 
workshop,  it  is  not  to  be  assumed  that,  as  a  rule,  both  arts  were 
practised  by  the  same  person.  Judging  from  the  style,  it  seems 
probable  that  only  a  small  part  of  the  paintings  of  the  altar  of 
Schwabach,  which  is  known  to  have  been  executed  in  the  school  of 
Wolgemut,  were  by  the  hand  of  that  master  himself.  The  archi- 
tectural, sculptural,  and  painted  details  of  such  altar-pieces  were 
commonly  intrusted  to  different  members  of  one  school,  while  only 
the  name  of  the  chief  master  has  been  preserved  in  the  records. 
The  duties  of  this  superintendent  included  the  general  direction 
and  responsibility,  and  sometimes  the  greater  part  of  the  execution. 
This  was  the  case  with  the  altar  of  Tiefenbronn,  near  Calw,  dating 
from  143 1 ;  with  the  chief  altar  of  the  same  place,  completed  in  1469  ; 
and  with  the  high  altar  of  the  Church  of  St.  James  at  Rothenburg 
on  the  Tauber,  A.  D.  1466, — the  paintings  of  which  are  ascribed  re- 
spectively to  Lucas  Moser  of  Weil,  Hans  Schuechlin  of  Ulm,  and 
Friedrich  Herlen  of  Noerdlingen.  Although  these  three  are  alone 
named  as  the  masters,  this  certainly  cannot  be  taken  to  prove  that 
all  the  sculptural  and  architectural  details  were  executed  by  their 
hands.  Some  few  works  not  signed  are  of  even  greater  excellence, 
as,  for  instance,  the  carved  and  unpainted  altar  in  the  last-named 
church,  dating  from  1478,  and  representing  the  Last  Supper;  the 
altar  of  the  Virgin  in  the  Hospital  Church  at  Rothenburg ;  the  al- 
tar of  the  Virgin  at  Kreglingen,  and  others. 

After  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century  Ulm  seems  to  have 
been  the  centre  of  the  Suabian  school  of  wood-carving.  From  it 
proceeded  one  of  the  most  distinguished  masters  of  his  period, 
Joerg  Syrlin  the  Elder,  who,  from  an  inscription  on  a  singing-desk 
now  preserved  in  the  Museum  of  Antiques  of  that  town,  is  known 
to  have  worked  as  early  as  1458.  His  chief  production,  the  choir 
stall  in  the  Minster  of  Ulm,  executed  between  1469  and  1474,  is 
one  of  the  finest  of  the  Middle  Ages,  both  in  respect  to  its  archi- 
tectural and  its  sculptural  carvings.  It  may  even  be  said  that  its 
classic  sages,  the  sibyls,  prophets,  and  pious  women  of  the  Old  Tes- 


GERMANY. 


625 


tament,  the  apostles  and  saints,  represented  for  the  greater  part  in 
breast-pieces,  have  a  delicacy  of  expression  which,  up  to  that  period, 
had  never  been  attained  in  Christian  art.  Joerg  Syrlin  the  younger 
was  inferior  to  his  father,  but  numerous  wood -carvings  in  and 
near  Ulm, — for  instance,  those  of  Blaubeuren,  Urach,  Herrenberg, 
Gmuend,  etc., — show  that  through  him  and 
his  companions  the  school  of  Ulm  main- 
tained its  importance  until  late  in  the  six- 
teenth century.  The  influence  of  the  Sua- 
bian  school  of  wood -carving  extended  to 
the  west  as  far  as  Colmar  and  Strasburg, 
to  the  south,  by  way  of  Ravensburg 
and  Constance,  to  Chur,  in  the  Grisons. 
Through  Augsburg  a  branch  of  it  seems 
to  have  been  introduced  into  Bavaria,— 
instance  the  Madonna  of  Blutenburg  (Fig. 
389), — perhaps  also  into  the  Austrian  prov- 
inces. Judging  by  the  altar  of  Gries  near 
Botzen,  dating  from  1471,  and  that  of  St. 
Wolfgang  in  Upper  Austria,  executed  in 
1481,  Michael  Pacher,  of  Bruneck,  seems  to 
have  been  influenced  by  the  schools  of  Fran- 
conia  and  Upper  Italy  as  well  as  by  that 
of  Suabia. 

The  works  of  the  southern  districts  of 
Suabia  have  flowing  draperies ;  those  of  the 
northern,  on  the  other  hand,  show  traces  of 
the  wrinkled  and  angular  style  prevalent 
in  Franconia.  Nuremberg  was  even  more 

Fig.  389. — Madonna  from  Blu- 

exclusively  the  centre  of   the   Franconian        tenburg,  now  in  the  Nation- 
school  than  Ulm  had  been  of  that  of  Sua-        ai  Museum  of  Munich, 
bia.     The  carvings  of  Nuremberg  cannot 

be  traced  farther  back  than  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  at 
least  no  names  of  artists  are  preserved  of  a  period  earlier  than  this. 
All  the  best  masters  seem  to  have  belonged  to  the  school  of  Wol- 
gemut,  which,  after  1434,  exercised  an  almost  exclusive  influence 
upon  the  artistic  activity  of  Nuremberg.  Wolgemut's  monopoly 

40 


626  GOTHIC   SCULPTURE. 

in  this  branch  may  have  affected  the  fortunes  of  Veit  Stoss,  the 
most  celebrated  carver  of  figures  in  Nuremberg,  who,  giving  up  his 
citizenship  in  1477,  removed  to  Cracow,  in  which  place  he  is  said  to 
have  been  born.  The  character  of  his  art  is  entirely  that  of  Nurem- 
berg. During  his  stay  of  almost  twenty  years  in  Cracow  he  ex- 
ecuted, among  other  works,  the  chief  altar-piece  of  the  Church  of 
Our  Lady  at  that  place,  the  Polish  capital  becoming  through  him 
an  outpost  of  Franconian  art.  In  1496  he  returned  to  Nuremberg, 
where  he  continued  exceedingly  productive  up  to  a  very  advanced 
age,  meeting  with  much  ill-will,  not  altogether  undeserved.  Most 
of  his  works  show  that  he  could  not  entirely  free  himself  from  the 
wrinkled  puffs  in  the  draperies,  nor,  in  the  male  figures,  from  the 
crude  hardness  characteristic  of  the  school.  Still,  he  far  surpassed 
all  his  contemporaries  in  expressing  a  certain  delicacy  of  sentiment, 
which  was  in  strange  contrast  to  the  tendencies  of  Wolgemut,  and 
even  to  the  character  of  the  artist  himself,  who  caused  much  trouble 
to  the  magistrates  of  his  town.  His  most  important  work  in  Nu- 
remberg, the  Annunciation  to  the  Virgin  in  the  Church  of  St.  Lau- 
rence, especially  in  the  round  central  figures,  far  exceeds  even  the 
best  creations  of  Wolgemut.  In  outline,  grouping,  gesture,  the 
forms  of  the  nude  parts,  and  the  soft  and  smooth  flow  of  the  dra- 
peries, this  group  has  great  beauty  and  charm,  proving  the  artist 
fully  equal  to  Holbein  the  younger,  Diirer,  and  Peter  Vischer,  so 
that,  strictly  speaking,  he  can  scarcely  be  considered  to  belong  to 
the  Middle  Ages.  It  is  true  that  this  carving,  dedicated  in  1518,  is 
referable  to  the  later  years  of  his  life,  and  is  the  first  of  his  produc- 
tions which  can  be  classed  with  the  works  of  the  Renaissance. 

The  Germanic  Museum,  the  churches  of  Our  Lady,  St.  Lau- 
rence, St.  John,  St.  JEgldius,  and  St.  James  at  Nuremberg,  and 
many  places  in  the  vicinity,  contain  a  great  number  of  works  of  the 
Franconian  school  of  carving,  the  influence  of  which  extended, 
moreover,  far  beyond  its  native  districts.  In  Cracow  the  methods 
of  Veit  Stoss  continued  to  be  practised,  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
by  his  pupil,  Joerg  Huber;  and  at  Schleswig,  in  the  extreme  north, 
Franconian  characteristics  can  be  traced  in  the  carved  altar  of  the 
cathedral,  executed  between  1515  and  1521  by  H.  Brueggemann. 
This  style  was  not  so  common  in  North  Germany  as  in  Saxony  and 


GERMANY.  627 

Silesia,  since  it  could  not  compete  with  that  of  the  Dutch  and 
Flemish  schools  of  painting.  In  the  Rhenish  countries,  also,  there 
was  no  such  activity  in  wood-carving  as  in  Franconia,  probably  in 
consequence  of  the  growing  preference  for  painting,  which  produced 
such  eminent  results  in  the  districts  of  Cologne  and  the  Nether- 
lands. The  best  carvings  preserved  in  the  towns  of  the  Lower 
Rhine,  such  as  those  in  the  Minster  of  Xanten  and  those  in  the 
Collegiate  Church  at  Calcar,  are  as  late  as  the  period  of  the  Renais- 
sance. In  Westphalia  the  carvings  of  the  fifteenth  century  follow 
the  traditions  of  the  ideal  sculpture  of  the  fourteenth.  Throughout 
the  northern  part  of  Germany  there  was  no  artist  equal  in  impor- 
tance to  Syrlin  or  Stoss,  to  whom  even  Brueggemann  was  vastly 
inferior. 

It  has  already  been  remarked  that  in  general  the  style  of  the 
wood-carving  of  the  fifteenth  century  exercised  an  influence  upon 
the  stone  sculpture  of  the  period.  This  is  less  manifest  in  Suabia 
and  the  districts  dependent  upon  it,  where  a  true  feeling  for  style 
always  adapted  the  treatment  to  the  nature  of  the  material.  The 
Rhenish  countries,  where  stone  sculpture  similar  in  character  to 
that  of  France  still  prevailed,  had  a  considerable  influence  upon  the 
Suabian  school,  as  had  also  the  Netherlands.  That  of  the  latter 
country  seems  not  to  have  been  limited  to  painting,  for  we  find  a 
Dutch  sculptor,  Nicolas  Lerch,  of  Leyden,  employed  in  Suabia. 
Even  so  eminent  a  master  as  Syrlin  clearly  betrays  the  style  of 
wood-carving  in  his  stone  sculptures,  as  is  shown  by  .the  Fisher's 
Fountain  at  Ulm,  dating  from  1482.  The  same  characteristics  are 
also  recognizable  in  the  treatment  of  the  architectural  details  of  tab- 
ernacles for  the  Host,  such  as  that  at  Ulm ;  in  the  pulpits  of  Tue- 
bingen,  Stuttgart,  Strasburg,  and  in  the  baptismal  fonts  at  Ulm, 
Urach,  and  Reutlingen.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  scarcely  a 
trace  of  the  methods  of  wood-carving  in  the  magnificent  monument 
of  Emperor  Louis  the  Bavarian  in  the  Church  of  Our  Lady  at  Mu- 
nich (Fig.  390),  executed  at  about  the  same  time  by  Master  Hans 
der  Steinmeissel,  the  draperies  being  rather  in  the  style  of  the  Neth- 
erlands. The  same  may  be  said  of  several  stone  sculptures  of  this 
period  at  Ratisbon. 

The  influence  of  wood-carving  upon  stone  sculpture  is  unmistak- 


628 


GOTHIC   SCULPTURE. 


able  in  Franconia,  especially  in  Nuremberg,  the  school  of  which,  in 
this  latter  branch,  surpassed  all  others  of  Germany.  The  name  of 
Adam  Kraft,  a  contemporary  of  Veit  Stoss,  and  but  a  few  years 
younger,  first  appears,  in  1490,  upon  the  Schreyer  Monument  of  the 
Church  of  St.  Sebaldus.  Kraft's  style  clearly  betrays  the  influence 


Fig.  390. — Part  of  the  Monument  of  Emperor  Louis  the  Bavarian  in  the  Church  of 

Our  Lady,  Munich. 

of  Stoss,  and  indeed  that  of  wood-carving  in  general.  In  his  mag- 
nificent tabernacles  —  the  so-called  sacrament  houses  —  he  so  thor- 
oughly transferred  to  stone  the  forms  of  the  Gothic  carved  altars 
that,  from  a  drawing,  it  would  not  be  thought  possible  they  could 
be  of  any  other  material  than  wood.  Even  in  the  figures,  those  in 
the  full  round  as  well  as  those  in  relief,  the  style  of  wood-carving 


GERMANY.  629 

is  combined  with  the  realism  of  painting.  As  the  conceptions  of 
Stoss  have  something  of  a  lyric  character,  so  those  of  Kraft  have  a 
dramatic  element,  which  has  caused  him,  not  inaptly,  to  be  called 
the  Rogier  van  der  Weyden  of  sculpture. 

Of  this  period  there  exist  nearly  as  many  Franconian  sculptures 
in  stone  as  in  wood,  but  to  the  majority  of  these,  including  many 
of  great  excellence,  no  names  of  artists  are  attached.  Among  the 
sculptors  of  the  school  of  Nuremberg  is  to  be  mentioned  Tilman 
Riemenschneider,  from  Osterode  in  Anhalt,  who,  after  1494,  settled 
in  Wurzburg.  Although  in  his  works  there  are  traits  slightly  re- 
sembling Mantegna,  he  cannot,  taken  all  in  all,  be  ranked  with 
Adam  Kraft.  Like  the  latter,  he  retained  the  Gothic  principles 
of  design  late  in  the  sixteenth  century.  The  funeral  monument  of 
Henry  II.  and  the  Empress  Cunigunda  in  the  Cathedral  of  Bam- 
berg,  executed  between  1499  and  1513,  distinctly  shows,  in  the 
architectural  details  and  the  sentimental  attitudes  of  the  two  chief 
figures,  the  character  of  the  late  Gothic  with  a  pompous  display 
almost  baroque. 

The  magnificent  monument  of  Emperor  Frederick  III.,  in  the 
Collegiate  Church  of  the  Neustadt,  Vienna,  was  executed  by  an 
artist  called  from  the  Netherlands,  the  before- mentioned  Nicolas 
Lerch  of  Leyden,  whose  work  was  completed  in  1513  by  Master 
Michael  Dichter,  probably  one  of  his  pupils.  The  influence  of  the 
Netherlands,  apparent  even  in  the  monument  of  the  Emperor 
Louis  the  Bavarian  in  Munich,  is  here  natural,  but  the  overloaded 
performance  in  question  has  by  no  means  the  artistic  importance 
of  Sluter's  celebrated  work  at  Dijon.  In  general,  the  Austrian  stone 
sculpture  of  this  period  is  influenced  rather  by  the  style  of  Suabia 
than  by  that  of  Franconia. 

While  carving  in  wood  and  sculpture  in  stone  were  practised 
with  exceptional  success  in  Franconia,  casting  in  bronze,  as  an  art, 
was  restricted  to  the  one  foundery  of  Vischer  in  Nuremberg.  The 
importance  of  the  Saxon  and  North  German  establishments  contin- 
ued to  decrease  during  this  century.  Even  those  of  Lubeck,  whose 
works  had  previously  been  exported,  formed  no  exception,  as  is 
proved  by  the  rudeness  of  three  baptismal  fonts  in  that  city — that 
in  the  Church  of  St.  ./Egidius,  executed  by  Hinrik  Gherwiges  in 


630 


GOTHIC   SCULPTURE. 


1454;  that  in  the  Cathedral,  by  Laurens  Groven,  in  1455  ;  and  that 
in  the  Church  of  St.  James,  dating  from  1466,  the  designer  of  which 
is  unknown.  The  bronze  tabernacle  in  the  Church  of  the  Virgin  at 
Lubeck,  cast  in  1479  by  Nicolas  Rughesee  and  Nicolas  Gruden,  is 
richly  ornamented  with  architectural  details,  but  the  figures  are 
weak  and  careless  in  execution.  The  renown  of  the  bronze  foun- 
dery  of  Nuremberg  soon  surpassed  that  of  all  others,  although  the 
font  cast  by  Heramnn  Vischer,  in  1457,  for  the  City  Church  of  Wit- 
tenberg (Fig.  391),  by  no  means  indicates  how  great  was  to  be  the 

future  of  his  school.  This 
work,  in  the  fantastical  details 
of  its  architecture,  distinctly 
exhibits  the  characteristics  of 
the  carved  altars  of  Nurem- 
berg, in  the  same  way  as  do 
the  stone  tabernacles  of  Kraft, 
to  which,  however,  as  well  as 
to  those  of  Stoss,  the  Witten- 
berg font  is  greatly  inferior. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  the 
numerous  bronze  tombs  of 
Bamberg,  the  oldest  of  which 
dates  from  1414.  For  the 
greater  part  these  seem  to 
have  been  executed  in  the 
Fig.  391.— Baptismal  Font  in  the  City  Church  foundery  of  Nuremberg.  Nei- 

of  Wittenberg,  by  Hermann  Vischer.  ther    the     plates    executed    in 

sgraffito,  nor  those  in  low-re- 
lief, such  as  the  tombs  of  the  bishops  George  I.  (d.  1475)  and 
Henry  III.  (d.  1489),  are  of  noteworthy  artistic  excellence.  The 
bronze  founder  appears  to  have  been  not  unfrequently  furnished 
with  a  design,  sometimes  even  with  a  model. 

The  renowned  Peter  Vischer,  son  of  Hermann  Vischer,  was 
called,  as  early  as  1494,  to  the  service  of  the  electoral  court  at 
Heidelberg.  The  style  of  his  works  at  the  time,  though  far  supe- 
rior to  that  of  his  father,  was  still  decidedly  Gothic,  as  is  seen  in 
the  funeral  monument  of  Bishop  John  in  the  Cathedral  of  Breslau, 


GERMANY.  631 

and  in  that  of  Archbishop  Ernst  in  the  Cathedral  of  Magdeburg 
(Fig-  392)-  His  fine  feeling  for  conventional  treatment  preserved 
him  from  the  undue  influence  of  stone  sculpture  or  of  wood -carv- 
ing, even  in  these  earlier  works,  which  in  technical  respects  and  in- 
dependence of  design  are  masterpieces.  The  heads  especially  have 
great  character  and  individuality,  and  are  in  no  wise  inferior  to  the 
best  works  of  his  contemporaries.  Notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
these  productions  were  far  more  elegant  than  the  works  of  Kraft 
and  Wolgemut,  and  fully  equal  in  artistic  significance  to  those  of 
Stoss,  they  were  still  distinctly  Gothic,  not  only  in  architectural 
details  but  in  ideal  conception  and  modes  of  expression. 


L 


Fig.  392. — Tomb  of  Archbishop  Ernst  in  the  Cathedral  of  Magdeburg,  by  Peter  Vischer. 

Peter  Vischer's  celebrated  shrine  of  St.  Sebaldus,  even  more  than 
the  Annunciation  by  Veit  Stoss,  may  be  considered  as  marking  a 
decided  advance  towards  the  Renaissance.  The  architectural  frame- 
work of  the  monument  is  essentially  Gothic,  but  the  introduction  of 
certain  Renaissance  details  has  given  to  the  whole  a  mixed  charac- 
ter. The  sculptures,  however,  are  conceived  entirely  in  the  new 
style.  The  figures  of  the  Apostles  still  have  some  Gothic  reminis- 
cences, but  these  seem  to  have  been  derived  rather  from  paintings 
of  the  school  of  Cologne  than  from  the  works  of  Veit  Stoss  and 


632  GOTHIC   SCULPTURE. 

Adam  Kraft.  In  the  representations  in  relief  of  the  life  of  St.  Se- 
baldus,  mediaeval  traditions  are  given  up,  and  the  master  appears 
altogether  as  an  artist  of  the  Renaissance.  This  change  was  in  him 
even  more  direct  and  immediate  than  in  his  great  contemporary, 
Albert  Diirer.  It  exercised  an  influence  upon  his  entire  school, 
the  works  of  which  were  distributed  throughout  Germany,  from 
Aschaffenburg  to  Poland,  and  from  Innsbruck  to  Berlin, —  thus 
greatly  furthering  the  advance  of  the  new  style. 

ITALY. 

At  the  close  of  the  Romanic  epoch  those  works  which  were  ex- 
ecuted by  order  of  Emperor  Frederick  II.  (compare  page  469)  took 
a  position  in  the  art  of  Italy*  corresponding  to  that  of  the  sculpt- 
ures of  Freiberg  and  Wechselburg  in  Germany.  The  conscious  re- 
turn to  the  antique  models,  evident  in  them,  is  surprising  at  a  time 
when  the  sculpture  of  Italy  had  either  sunk  into  barbarism,  or  had 
become  more  or  less  dependent  upon  Byzantium.  Notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  they  were  but  isolated  instances  of  this  tendency,  they 
still  could  not  fail  to  attract  notice  and  incite  imitation.  Even 
though  the  statues  were  not  widely  known,  Frederick's  gold  coins 
were  current  throughout  Italy,  and  aided  in  directing  the  attention 
of  artists  to  the  antique  models  hitherto  so  neglected. 

It  cannot  be  ascertained  whether  Niccolo  Pisano,  to  whom  the 
revival  of  sculpture  is  chiefly  due,  received  any  impulse  from  these 
works  of  Southern  Italy.  It  is  possible  that  the  inclination  to  imi- 
tate the  classic  sculptures  which  were  scattered  throughout  Italy 
may  have  made  itself  felt  at  the  same  time  in  various  parts  of  the 
country,  indications  of  this  tendency  appearing  as  early  as  1200  in 
several  works  of  Verona  and  Siena  (compare  page  467).  At  all 
events,  it  is  quite  certain  that  in  Tuscany  the  systematic  change  of 
style  was  effected  by  Niccolo  Pisano.  His  appearance  was  contem- 
porary with  the  first  employment  of  Gothic  architecture  in  Italy. 

*  Ch.  C.  Perkins,  Tuscan  Sculptors,  their  lives,  works,  and  times.  London,  1864. — 
The  Same,  Italian  Sculptors,  being  a  History  of  Sculpture  in  Northern,  Southern,  and 
Eastern  Italy.  London,  1868. — H.  Semper,  Uebersicht  der  Geschichte  toskanischer 
Sculptur.  Zurich,  1869,  und  Zeitschrift  f.  bild.  Kunst.  VI..  1871.— J.  Burkhart.  Der  Cice- 
rone, part  ii.,  vol.  ii.  Fifth  edition.  Edited  by  W.  Bode.  Leipzig,  1884. 


ITALY.  633 

But  the  introduction  through  him  of  classic  elements,  so  foreign  to 
the  Gothic  of  France  and  Germany,  naturally  gave  a  peculiar  char- 
acter to  the  Gothic  sculpture  of  Italy.  If  the  tympanon  relief  of 
the  Cathedral  of  Lucca,  dating  from  1233,  be  indeed  referable  to 
Niccolo,  it  shows  that  the  master  in  his  youth  followed  methods 
not  altogether  different  from  those  of  the  North.  In  the  Descent 
from  the  Cross,  which  is  represented  in  this  sculpture,  there  is  no 
lack  of  expression  of  sentiment  or  liveliness  of  action, — the  chief 
characteristics  of  Gothic  art  in  general.  In  his  greatest  works,  how- 
ever, these  traits  disappear,  and  are  superseded  by  a  close  imitation 
of  antique  models,  the  sculptor  naturally  being  less  Gothic  as  he 
became  more  classic.  It  is  probable  that,  as  Vasari  says,  Niccolo 
was  inspired  by  the  reliefs  of  the  sarcophagi  which  the  Pisans  had 
collected  as  trophies  of  their  victories.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that, 
when  the  antique  models  did  not  answer,  the  figures  substituted 
were  in  the  Romanic  rather  than  the  Gothic  style,  the  whole  being 
more  similar  to  the  sculptures  of  Freiberg  than  to  the  contempo- 
rary works  of  the  French  Gothic. 

The  classic  style  of  Niccolo  attained  its  full  perfection  in  the 
pulpit  of  the  Baptistery  of  Pisa,  referable  to  the  year  1260,  this  be- 
ing the  first  of  that  series  of  magnificent  works  which  were  to  make 
the  sculpture  of  Italy  the  finest  of  the  world.  The  architecture  of 
this  pulpit, — an  ambo  of  hexagonal  plan  supported  upon  columns, — 
is  chiefly  of  the  Gothic  style.  The  lions  upon  which  the  shafts  are 
placed  display,  it  is  true,  Romanic  reminiscences ;  but  the  forms  of 
the  capitals  and  the  trefoil  cusps  of  the  arches  are  distinctly  Gothic. 
The  parapet,  occupying  five  of  the  six  sides,  is  formed  by  panels 
sculptured  in  relief,  representing  the  Nativity  (Fig.  393),  the  Adora- 
tion of  the  Magi,  the  Presentation  in  the  Temple,  the  Crucifixion, 
and  the  Last  Judgment.  The  figures  are  short  and  thick-set;  the 
composition  crowded,  like  that  of  the  reliefs  of  Roman  sarcophagi ; 
and  there  is  but  little  action.  The  influence  of  antique  models  is 
perceptible  in  various  degrees,  most  directly  in  the  queenly  figure 
of  the  Madonna  of  the  Nativity,  in  the  Joseph  of  the  Presentation, 
who  closely  resembles  the  antique  type  of  the  bearded  Dionysos, 
and  in  the  horses  of  the  Magi.  The  draperies  are  almost  purely 
antique,  so  that  it  is  even  possible  to  identify  one  of  the  models 


634 


GOTHIC   SCULPTURE. 


chosen  by  the  artist,  namely  the  so-called  Sarcophagus  of  Phsedra 
in  the  Campo  Santo  at  Pisa.  The  attitudes  and  the  proportions  of 
the  figures  are  still  awkward ;  but  classic  conceptions  and  methods 
are  here  already  revived,  and  we  perceive  the  first  efforts  of  the 
Renaissance. 

The  work  of  Niccolo  was,  however,  rather  a  rehabilitation  than 
a  re-birth  of  the  antique.  It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  the  sculptures 
of  the  Portal  of  Freiberg  or  those  of  many  Gothic  cathedrals  of 


Fig.  393. — Relief  upon  the  Pulpit  of  Niccolo  Pisano,  in  the  Baptistery  of  Pisa. 

France  were  of  greater  artistic  importance,  inasmuch  as  they  were 
decidedly  more  independent.  Still,  this  is  not  the  only  reason  why 
the  beginning  of  the  Renaissance  in  sculpture  may  not  be  dated 
from  this  work.  The  activity  in  this  branch,  initiated  by  the  elder 
Pisano,  has  as  little  real  claim,  in  such  a  regard,  as  is  to  be  accorded 
to  the  work  of  the  Saxon  and  French  masters  before  referred  to ; 
moreover,  the  return  to  the  antique,  which  is  the  chief  characteris- 
tic of  Niccolo,  did  not  outlast  his  lifetime,  and  was  followed  by  es- 


ITALY.  635 

sentially  Gothic  conceptions.  The  master  must,  therefore,  rather 
be  considered  as  an  early  forerunner  of  the  Renaissance. 

The  academic  and  classic  training  of  Niccolo  was  of  great  ad- 
vantage in  the  technical  development  of  his  son,  Giovanni  Pisano, 
whose  talent  was  in  many  ways  superior  to  that  of  his  father.  Gio- 
vanni, however,  together  with  the  greater  number  of  his  fellow-stu- 
dents, pursued  an  entirely  different  course,  more  comparable  to  that 
of  the  Northern  masters,  and  more  Gothic.  Through  what  means 
he  received  this  impulse  does  not  appear,  and  little  is  gained  by  the 
supposition  that  older  pupils  of  his  father,  notably  the  great  Ar- 
nolfo  di  Cambio,  had  previously  taken  up  Northern  methods.  When 
Vasari  speaks  of  the  co-operation  of  German  masters  he  must  refer 
to  later  works  of  the  school  of  Giovanni,  and  to  the  sculptures  of 
the  Cathedral  of  Orvieto ;  in  the  records  of  the  Cathedral  of  Siena, 
also,  the  name  of  the  German  artist  Ramus  does  not  appear  until 
1281.  If  foreign  influences  are  assumed  they  can  only  have  been 
derived  from  France  and  the  Upper  Rhine,  although  the  French 
style  was  in  many  ways  surpassed  by  that  of  Giovanni. 

In  the  pulpit  of  octagonal  plan  in  the  Cathedral  of  Siena,  exe- 
cuted under  the  direction  of  Niccolo  between  1266  and  1268,  the 
new  tendencies  made  their  appearance,  whether  due  to  Arnolfo  or 
to  Giovanni.  Side  by  side  with  the  classic  elements  of  Niccolo 
there  is  a  dramatic  action,  and  an  expression  of  sentiment  of  which 
there  is  scarcely  a  trace  in  the  pulpit  of  the  Baptistery  at  Pisa. 
Giovanni's  style  is  still  more  manifest  in  the  fountain  at  Perugia, 
referable  to  the  years  between  1277  and  1280,  in  which  the  aged 
Niccolo,  who  had  received  the  order,  probably  took  but  little  part. 
In  the  works  executed  after  the  death  of  Niccolo,  under  the  super- 
intendence of  Giovanni,  there  is  no  immediate  influence  of  the  an- 
tique, a  naive  realism  appearing  in  its  place.  This  is  particularly 
noticeable  in  the  sculptures  of  the  fa§ade  of  the  Cathedral  of  Orvi- 
eto. Although  these  reliefs  compare  to  the  Gothic  works  of  Rheims 
and  Amiens  as  do  the  sculptures  of  Niccolo  to  those  of  Freiberg 
and  Wechselburg,  they  are  far  less  ecclesiastical  and  more  realistic 
in  character  than  are  those  of  the  North.  This  applies  especially 
to  the  representations  of  Adam  and  Eve  and  the  Last  Judgment. 
The  more  thorough  study  of  nature,  the  greater  elegance  of  form 


636 


GOTHIC   SCULPTURE. 


and  the  finer  feeling  for  beauty  apparent  in  them,  render  any  con- 
siderable influence  from   France  or  Germany  improbable, 
works  have  also  the  lively  and  pathetic  action,  the  flowing  lines, 
both  of  the  nude  parts  and  the  draperies,  and  the  gentle,  almost 
sentimental  expression  characteristic  of  Gothic  art  in  general;  but 
the  classic  training  received  by  Giovanni  and  his  fellow  -stude 
tending  towards  a  close  and  objective  observation   of  nature,  had 
protected  them  from  the  subjectivity  of  Northern  art.    Beside 


Fig.  394.-Relief  upon  the  Pulpit  of  Giovanni  Pisano  in  S.  Andrea  of  Pistoja. 


training,  the  better  material  provided  by  the  Italian  marble  may 
have  contributed  to  a  greater  refinement  and  thoroughness  c 

cution. 

The  relations  of  the  art  of  Giovanni  to  that  of  Niccolo  : 
best  exemplified  by  comparing  two  representations  of  the  same  sub- 
ject (Figs.  393  and  394)-     The  pulpit  in  S.  Andrea  at  Pistoja,  att 
ed  by  an  inscription  to  be  the  work  of  Giovanni,  was  comple 


•ITALY.  63  7 

1301.  The  composition  of  the  Nativity  is  much  the  same  as  those 
of  the  pulpits  of  the  Baptistery  of  Pisa  and  the  Cathedral  of  Siena. 
But  the  Classic-Romanic  character  of  the  representation  in  the  Bap- 
tistery of  Pisa,  which  had  been  somewhat  modified  in  several  of  the 
figures  at  Siena,  has  in  Pistoja  been 
wholly  exchanged  for  the  graceful 
and  gentle  forms  of  the  Gothic.  The 
attitudes  are  life-like,  the  epic  repose 
of  the  older  work  being  here  given 
up  for  an  action  almost  dramatic, — 
the  rigid  dignity  and  stately  com- 
posure, for  pathetic  sentiment.  A 
similar  composition  is  the  Nativity 
upon  the  pulpit  of  the  Cathedral  of 
Pisa,  completed  in  1311,  now  only 
preserved  in  part. 

The  contrast  to  Northern  Gothic 
sculpture  apparent  in  the  reliefs  is 
even  more  marked  in  the  statues. 
The  Madonnas  of  Giovanni  have 
little  of  the  delicate  grace  and  maid- 
enly loveliness  of  the  Virgins  and 
Saints  in  Rheims  and  Strasburg,  and, 
moreover,  no  typically  ecclesiastical 
character.  The  Madonna  of  the  south 
portal  of  the  Cathedral  of  Florence  is 
a  queenly  personage,  who  could  nev- 
er have  developed  into  a  Mater  Do- 
lorosa ;  the  Madonna  della  Cintola 
in  the  Cathedral  of  Prato  has  almost 
an  expression  of  defiance  in  the  ab- 
rupt turn  of  the  head,  in  the  attitude 
of  the  body,  as  well  as  in  the  admi- 
rable drapery  (Fig.  395).  How  readily  this  bold  vigor  could  in  sec- 
ular subjects  be  exaggerated  into  ugliness  is  shown  by  the  allegor- 
ical figure  representing  the  city  of  Pisa  in  the  Campo  Santo  of  that 
place.  In  works  of  this  kind  the  artist  often  sacrificed  beauty  to  a 


Fig.  395. — Madonna  della  Cintola,  by 
Giovanni  Pisano,  in  the  Cathedral  of 
Prato. 


638  GOTHIC   SCULPTURE. 

striving  after  truth  to  nature  and  characteristic  individuality.  This 
may  be  observed  in  several  funeral  monuments.  That  of  Pope  Ben- 
edict (d.  1304)  in  S.  Domenico  at  Perugia  is  of  noble  conception,  but 
that  of  Enrico  Scrovegno  (d.  1321)  in  S.  Maria  dell'  Arena  in  Padua 
is  almost  disagreeably  realistic. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  the  fellow-students  and  companions  of 
Giovanni  should  have  followed  his  Gothic  tendencies  rather  than 
the  classic  methods  of  their  master  Niccolo.  Even  painters  could 
not  resist  this  powerful  impulse,  as  is  shown  by  Giotto,  who  is  to  be 
considered  as  a  pupil  of  Giovanni  Pisano  rather  than  of  Cimabue. 
The  style  of  Niccolo  was  most  closely  adhered  to  by  Fra  Guglielmo 
d'Agnello,  who  assisted  him  in  the  execution  of  the  Area  of  St. 
Dominic  in  the  Church  of  S.  Domenico  at  Bologna.  The  co-opera- 
tion of  this  artist  in  the  fa9ades  of  S.  Micchele  at  Pisa  and  the  Ca- 
thedral of  Orvieto  is  certain,  and  the  somewhat  uncertain  forms  of 
the  pulpit  of  S.  Giovanni  fuor'  Civitas  at  Pistoja  renders  it  proba- 
ble that  this  was  his  own  independent  work.  Arnolfo  di  Cambio, 
who  has  before  been  mentioned  as  one  of  the  most  influential  archi- 
tects of  the  Italian  Gothic,  is  far  more  important,  and  may  in  many 
ways  be  considered  as  a  forerunner  of  Giovanni  Pisano,  who  was  his 
junior  by  more  than  twenty  years.  In  the  work  upon  the  pulpit  of 
Siena  he  had  been  the  chief  assistant  of  Niccolo,  and  received  twice 
as  much  wages  as  Giovanni.  Although  his  tendencies  were  mainly 
Gothic,  his  sculptures  on  the  Bigallo  of  Florence  have  all  the  class- 
icism of  Niccolo. 

Arnolfo  carried  the  Tuscan  style  to  Rome,  where  he  was  en- 
gaged upon  the  tabernacle  in  the  Church  of  S.  Paolo  fuori  le  Mura, 
and  where  an  artist  in  Cosmatic  work,  Giovanni,  who  may  have  as- 
sisted Arnolfo  in  this  task,  designed,  towards  the  close  of  the  thir- 
teenth century,  several  fine  funeral  monuments  of  bishops  for  the 
churches  of  S.  Maria  sopra  Minerva  and  S.  Maria  Maggiore.  The 
Pisan  influence  was  extended  to  Naples  by  another  follower  of  Nic- 
colo, Tino  di  Camaino  of  Siena,  who  found  an  excellent  pupil  and 
assistant  in  the  Neapolitan  Gallardus.  In  Southern  Italy  the  field 
had  already  been  prepared  for  the  new  style  by  the  sculptures  of 
the  time  of  Frederick  II.,  and  in  Naples,  Ravello,  Altamura,  and 
Gaeta  works  of  this  character  are  preserved  which  antedate  the  ad- 


ITALY.  639 

vent  of  Tino.  Particular  importance  is  to  be  attached  to  the  pulpit 
in  the  Cathedral  of  Ravello,  dating  from  1272 ;  Niccolo  di  Barto- 
lommeo  of  Foggia,  by  whom  it  was  executed,  seems  to  have  been 
connected  with  the  school  of  Capua,  rather  than  with  that  of  Pisa. 

The  pupils  of  Niccolo  Pisano  preserved  more  or  less  of  his  classic 
methods,  but  the  case  was  otherwise  with  the  followers  of  Giovanni. 
Among  these,  mention  need  here  only  be  made  of  Agostino  and 
Angelo  of  Siena,  who  were  employed  upon  the  sculptures  of  the 
fagade  of  Orvieto,  and  whose  independent  work  is  the  elaborate 
funeral  monument  of  the  Bishop  Guido  Tarlati  in  the  Cathedral  of 
Arezzo.  Andrea  Pisano,  A.  D.  1270  to  1350,  deserves  particular  no- 
tice as  another  master  of  this  important  and  influential  family,  of 
which  he  represents  the  third  generation.  The  character  of  his 
style  was  determined  by  the  reaction  of  the  newly  awakened  art  of 
painting,  and  especially  by  the  influence  of  the  universal  genius  of 
Giotto,  upon  the  sculptural  methods  of  Giovanni.  Unfortunately 
it  cannot  be  ascertained  in  how  far  Giotto  furnished  the  designs  for 
the  sculptures  of  his  Campanile,  although  the  Creation  of  Adam  and 
the  Birth  of  Eve  are  directly  referred  to  him  by  the  Vita  Anonyma 
of  Ghiberti.  Still,  it  may  be  assumed  that  the  direct  influence  of 
Giotto  went  beyond  the  providing  of  painted  models  ;  several  of  the 
representations, — for  instance,  the  agricultural  group  (Fig.  396)  upon 
the  Campanile  at  Florence,  so  spirited  in  composition  and  so  slight 
in  execution, —  cannot  possibly  be  attributed  to  Andrea  Pisano 
alone.  At  all  events,  the  impulse  derived  by  painting  from  the 
sculptures  of  Giovanni  Pisano  now  reacted,  in  its  turn,  upon  the 
methods  of  Andrea,  which  were  far  more  classic  than  the  painting 
of  Giotto. 

The  sons  of  Andrea,  Nino  and  Tommaso  Pisano,  followed  in  the 
footsteps  of  their  father ;  it  is  only  to  be  observed  that  the  highly- 
gifted  Nino,  who  has  some  traits  in  common  with  Fiesole,  deserves 

o 

more  attention  than  is  generally  accorded  to  him.  Greater  renown 
was  attained  by  Andrea  Cione  (Orcagna),  a  versatile  artist,  who 
among  the  later  and  weaker  representatives  of  the  Pisan  school  of 
sculpture  holds  a  place  similar  to  that  which  he  attained  as  a  painter 
among  the  pupils  of  Giotto,  and,  as  an  architect,  among  the  follow- 
ers of  Arnolfo.  The  sculptures  of  his  altar-piece  in  the  Church  of 


640  GOTHIC   SCULPTURE. 

Orsanmicchele  at  Florence,  dating  from  1359,  are  remarkable  for  their 
careful  execution  and  somewhat  severe  style. 

The  influence  of  the  school  of  Giovanni  extended  to  Upper 
Italy.  In  Milan  the  Tuscan  elements  had  naturally  to  compete 
with  those  of  Germany  and  of  the  Comacini,  and  were  most  promi- 
nent in  cases  where  the  work  was  directed  by  artists  from  Pisa,— 
for  instance,  Giovanni  di  Balduccio,  who  designed  the  monument 
of  Peter  Martyr  in  a  side  chapel  of  S.  Eustorgio  at  Milan,  A.  D. 


Fig.  396. — Agriculture.     Relief  upon  the  Campanile  of  Florence. 

1339, —  or  where  types  distinctly  Pisan  were  introduced  at  least  in- 
directly, as  in  the  beautiful  Area  of  St.  Augustine  in  the  Cathedral 
of  Pavia,  which  is  said  to  have  been  executed  in  1362  by  Bonino 
di  Campiglione,  a  pupil  of  Balduccio.  The  monument  of  Can  della 
Scala  (d.  1375),  in  Verona,  is  referable  to  the  latter  artist.  Lanfrani, 
another  pupil  of  Giovanni  Pisano,  worked  in  Imola  and  Bologna,  in 
which  latter  town  Andrea  da  Fiesole  was  employed  early  in  the  fif- 
teenth century.  Venice  was  likewise  affected  by  influences  from 


ITALY.  641 

Tuscany,  although  those  of  Germany  still  predominate  in  the  fine 
figures  of  the  rood  loft  in  S.  Marco.  In  Southern  Italy  traces  re- 
main of  the  old  classic  school  of  Frederick  II.;  these  appear  even 
as  late  as  the  funeral  monuments  of  the  Anjou  family  in  the  Church 
of  S.  Chiara  at  Naples,  and  are  especially  marked  in  the  tomb  of 
King  Charles,  who  was  murdered  in  1347.  Together  with  the 
French  tendencies  cultivated  by  the  architects  who  had  been  called 
to  Naples  by  the  Anjous,  there  are,  in  some  details,  indications  of 
a  further  development  of  the  Tuscan  style  introduced  by  Tino  of 
Siena. 

Bronze  casting  appears  to  have  been  at  first  executed  by  work- 
men of  merely  technical  training,  who  transferred  to  metal  designs 
which  had  been  conceived  by  sculptors  solely  with  reference  to 
works  of  stone.  This  seems  to  have  been  the  case  with  the  bronze 
parts  of  the  Fountain  of  Perugia,  cast  by  Magister  Rubeus.  Andrea 
Pisano,  whose  sculptures  in  marble  have  already  been  referred  to, 
was  the  first  to  give  an  independent  importance  to  artistic  bronze 
casting  by  devoting  due  attention  to  its  stylistic  requirements.  In 
his  excellent  models  for  the  doors  of  the  southern  portal  of  the 
Baptistery  in  Florence,  cast  by  the  Venetian  Leonardo  di  Avanzo, 
he  again  adopted  an  ornamentation  of  figures  in  relief,  and  appro- 
priately modified  the  stone  style  which  had  hitherto  prevailed.  In 
attempting  this  he  was  naturally  led  to  the  study  of  antique  bronzes, 
which  may  have  been  more  numerous  in  Tuscany  than  classic  sculpt- 
ures in  marble,  at  that  time  rare,  especially  in  Florence.  The  in- 
ventive genius  of  Giotto  probably  had  great  influence  in  this  direc- 
tion, as  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  many  of  the  figures  were 
directly  copied  from  his  painted  compositions.  Classic  reminis- 
cences are  in  these  bronzes  combined  with  the  lively  action  and 
expression,  and  the  graceful  lines,  often  sharply  emphasized,  pe- 
culiar to  the  Gothic  style, — all  these  features  being  blended  into  a 
harmony  not  elsewhere  attained. 

Work  in  precious  metals  was  practised  to  a  greater  extent,  and 
had  by  this  time  entirely  freed  itself  from  the  Byzantine  traditions 
which  had  been  maintained  for  nearly  a  thousand  years.  The  char- 
acteristic tendencies  of  the  Pisan  school  are  evident  in  the  figures 
of  silver -gilt  upon  the  altar  of  St.  John  in  the  Opera  del  Duomo 

41 


642  GOTHIC   SCULPTURE. 

at  Florence,  begun  by  Clone,  father  of  Orcagna,  and  completed  in 
1477;  and  also  in  the  elaborate  altar-piece  in  the  chapel  of  St.  James 
in  the  Cathedral  of  Pistoja,  executed  between  1287  and  1398  by  An- 
drea di  Jacopo  d'Ognabene,  Giglio  Pisano,  Piero  Florentine,  and 
Lionardo  di  Ser  Giovanni.  It  is  plainly  seen  in  both  of  these  works 
that  the  intrinsic  value  of  the  material  diminished  rather  than  in- 
creased the  artistic  importance. 

In  regard  to  sculpture,  the  Gothic  period  was  less  distinctly  sep- 
arated from  the  Renaissance  in  Italy  than  in  Germany.  Elements 
of  the  art  of  the  Renaissance  had  existed  from  the  time  of  the 
Pisani,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  many  a  mediaeval  trait  was  pre- 
served even  as  late  as  the  Quatrocento.  The  names  of  artists  are 
generally  attached  to  important  works  which  have  a  greater  or  less 
degree  of  original  merit.  Still,  the  common  training,  the  national 
school  and  style,  are  more  manifest  among  the  pupils  and  followers 
of  Andrea  Pisano  than  in  the  Quatrocento  of  Florence,  where  the 
individual  genius  of  Ghiberti,  Donatello,  and  Luca  della  Robbia 
broke  through  all  limitations,  even  as  in  ancient  Greece  the  phenom- 
enal appearance  of  Alkamenes,  Pythagoras  of  Rhegion,  and  Myron 
had  made  an  end  of  the  hieratic  and  archaic  local  schools  existing 
before  them.  The  individuality,  the  purely  personal  position  of 
the  artist,  was  finally  established  by  these  three  Florentine  masters, 
the  Renaissance  thus  beginning  in  Italy  earlier  than  elsewhere  in 
Europe. 

Spain  is  the  only  remaining  country  of  Europe  which  had  any 
Gothic  sculpture  deserving  of  consideration.  The  Iberian  penin- 
sula was  in  this  branch,  as  in  architecture,  dependent  upon  France, 
and  especially  upon  the  south-western  provinces.  The  portal  sculpt- 
ures of  Spain  at  first  differed  from  those  of  France  only  in  greater 
hastiness  of  execution  and  want  of  expression,  but  gradually  a  love 
of  empty  display  became  manifest  in  them.  In  the  extent  of  the 
representations  and  in  the  number  of  figures  the  adopted  style  be- 
came more  luxurious  and  elaborate  on  Spanish  soil  than  in  its  na- 
tive France ;  still,  there  was  no  increase  in  ideal  significance  or 
artistic  merit.  The  profusion  of  stone  sculptures  upon  the  facades 
(compare  Fig.  374),  and  the  dimensions  of  the  carved  altar-pieces 


SPAIN. 

(retablos),  though  leading  to  an  extensive  activity,  greatly  impaired 
the  thoroughness  of  execution.  The  Spanish  designers  had  no  un- 
derstanding of  that  organic  connection  which  should  be  maintained 
between  architecture  and  sculpture,  and  the  numerous  embellish- 
ments introduced  by  them  could  not  compensate  for  this  want 
of  harmony.  The  redundant  sculptured  decoration  was  merely 
an  appendage  to  the  architectural  framework.  It  is  plain  that  in 
sculpture,  as  in  architecture,  the  chief  attention  was  devoted  to 


Fig-  397- — Funeral  Monument  of  King  Juan  II.  and  his  Wife  in  the  Carthusian 
Convent  of  Miraflores. 

richness  of  effect, — depth  of  expression  and  faithfulness  in  details 
being  sacrificed  without  scruple.  The  Oriental  delight  in  elabo- 
rate ornamentation  is  everywhere  apparent, — the  whimsical  and  sur- 
prising being  preferred  to  the  constructive,  the  fanciful  and  irrel- 
evant to  the  consequential.  A  comparison  between  the  funeral 
monuments  of  the  late  epoch  is  interesting  and  instructive.  The 
solemnity  and  dignity  of  Sluter's  ducal  monuments  at  Dijon  con- 
trast strikingly  with  the  restless  and  fantastic  character  of  the  Span- 
ish productions,  such  as  the  sarcophagus  of  King  Juan  II.  and  his 


644  GOTHIC   SCULPTURE. 

wife,  executed  in  1490  (Fig.  397),  and  that  of  the  Infante,  both  in 
Miraflores  near  Burgos.  And  yet  the  same  influence  of  the  Nether- 
lands which  has  been  observed  in  France  found  its  way  also  beyond 
the  Pyrenees.  It  was  not,  however,  represented  by  so  excellent  an 
artist  as  the  master  of  Dijon,  nor  had,  in  the  preceding  age,  the  field 
been  prepared  for  its  adoption  by  such  eminent  national  works  as 
those  of  Rheims,  Paris,  Amiens,  etc. 

Judging  from  the  wood-carvings  preserved  in  the  Museum  of 
Valladolid,  it  is  to  be  assumed  that  the  excessive  naturalism  which 
characterizes  the  Spanish  painting  of  the  seventeenth  century  was 
also  a  prominent  feature  in  the  art  of  the  fifteenth.  It  was  there- 
fore natural  that  the  courtly  and  chivalric  art  of  the  French  should 
not  be  retained  in  this  country,  whose  sculptures  present  so  great  a 
contrast  to  those  of  the  Netherlands  and  Germany.  The  character 
of  the  Spanish  productions  is  pathetic  but  somewhat  exaggerated, 
— rarely  ennobled  by  any  high  conception  or  beauty  of  form.  In 
this  latter  respect  these  works  resemble  those  of  Germany  rather 
than  those  of  France.  The  strong  and  uncontrolled  passions  of  the 
lower  classes  are  freely  expressed,  the  way  being  thus  prepared  for 
the  art  of  Ribera,  which  could  have  arisen  only  on  this  traditional 
foundation. 

The  Gothic  sculpture  of  the  Scandinavian  countries  was  entire- 
ly without  independence.  German  influence  was  altogether  dom- 
inant, proceeding  chiefly  from  the  northern  Lowlands,  particularly 
the  provinces  of  the  Baltic.  Poland  and  Hungary  were  in  like  man- 
ner dependent  upon  the  German  territories  adjoining  them.  Cracow 
forms  in  some  measure  an  exception,  having  derived  its  artistic 
methods  from  Nuremberg. 


398. — Cologne  Triptych,  dating  from  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century.     Museum 

of  Cologne. 


PAINTING   OF   THE   GOTHIC   EPOCH. 

IT  might  have  been  supposed  that  the  new  conditions  of  culture 
which  obtained  in  the  ages  of  the  Gothic  would  have  found  no 
earlier  and  no  more  striking  expression  than  in  the  art  of  painting. 
The  nature  of  this  art  is  so  impressionable  as  to  render  it  sensitive 
to  every  change  of  popular  conception,  every  advance  or  decline  of 
national  civilization.  Strange  to  say,  the  painting  of  the  Gothic 
epoch  is  no  such  index.  Architecture,  the  most  stable  art,  was  the 
first  to  give  expression  to  the  new  ideas ;  painting,  the  most  mo- 
bile, the  last.  Painting  retained  earlier  traditions  even  longer  than 
sculpture,  and  continued  to  bear  the  stamp  of  the  Romanic  style 
until  late  into  the  thirteenth  century.  This  was  even  the  case  in 
France,  which,  in  regard  to  the  development  of  the  Gothic,  was  at 
least  five  decades  in  advance  of  any  other  country. 

Circumstances  did  not  at  first  favor  the  rise  of  a  national  art  of 


646  PAINTING   OF   THE   GOTHIC   EPOCH. 

painting.  In  this  branch  all  efforts  were  devoted  to  the  service  of 
the  Church  and  of  chivalry,  both  of  which  were  international.  The 
same  was,  indeed,  true  of  architecture  ;  but  in  it  the  innovations 
were  less  dependent  upon  ecclesiastical  ordinances  than  in  painting, 
because  of  the  religious  subjects  to  which  the  latter  was  restricted. 
Moreover,  constructive  improvements  were  not  so  readily  commu- 
nicated from  country  to  country  as  were  works  of  literature  and 
painting.  Books  and  paintings,  combined  as  they  were  in  illuminat- 
ed manuscripts,  were  widely  circulated  from  convent  to  convent, 
through  journeys  of  the  brethren  and  through  the  gifts  of  princes. 
The  reproduction  of  these  tended  towards  conservative  archaism 
rather  than  towards  the  adoption  of  new  methods.  The  traditions 
of  the  old  convents  were  opposed  to  innovations,  even  in  painting, 
and  the  strict  principles  of  the  new  orders,  the  Cistercians,  Minor- 
ites, and  Dominicans,  were  altogether  unfavorable  to  luxury  in  this 
direction.  Through  the  secularization  of  the  arts  painting  had  in 
great  measure  come  into  the  hands  of  the  laity,  but  its  dependence 
upon  the  libraries  and  schools  of  the  convents  was  much  longer  con- 
tinued than  was  that  of  architecture  and  sculpture.  This  state  of 
things  was  not  changed  even  by  the  introduction  of  illuminations 
into  secular  books,  although  no  traditional  models  existed  for  rep- 
resentations of  the  kind. 

Through  the  development  of  Gothic  architecture,  painting  was 
almost  entirely  debarred  from  one  of  the  chief  fields  of  its  employ- 
ment. The  architectural  memberment  of  the  wall  surfaces  rendered 
extensive  mural  paintings  impossible,  and  the  colored  decoration 
was  more  restricted  to  the  ornaments  than  it  had  been  in  the  Ro- 
manic epoch.  This  was  the  greater  disadvantage,  as  in  this  branch 
of  painting,  more  than  in  any  other,  an  elevated  and  ideal  aim  was 
of  the  utmost  importance,  and  could  alone  lead  to  a  true  progress, 
while  in  the  art  of  illumination,  which,  like  the  writing  of  the  man- 
uscripts, required  rapid  production,  a  certain  dilettantism,  retained 
from  the  Romanic  epoch,  better  sufficed. 

Thus  in  France,  the  native  country  of  the  Gothic  style,  only  one 
branch  of  monumental  painting  remained,  that  upon  glass  ;  and 
even  in  this  the  Romanic  tendencies  were  predominant  for  nearly 
a  century.  The  difficulty  of  execution  here  tended  towards  con- 


PAINTING   OF    THE   GOTHIC   EPOCH.  647 

servatism,  much  as  had  been  the  case  in  mosaic  work,  which  admit- 
ted of  little  artistic  freedom  and  individuality.  Painting  upon  glass 
demanded  a  high  degree  of  technical  training,  but  it  was  otherwise 
with  the  embroidered  dorsels  and  canopies  which  had  taken  the 
place  of  mural  decoration.  These  were  much  in  vogue,  and  were 
left  almost  entirely  to  the  untrained  hands  of  women. 

In  the  early  centuries  of  the  Gothic  period,  painting  upon  panels 
was  in  its  first  stages,  and  but  rarely  practised.  The  altar  consisted 
usually  of  a  table  with  a  reliquary  standing  upon  it ;  painted  altar- 
pieces  in  the  form  of  triptychs,  such  as  had  occasionally  appeared 
in  the  Romanic  epoch — instance  those  of  Soest — were  altogether 
exceptional.  The  representations  upon  these  latter  were  at  first 
limited  to  rows  of  saints  upon  gold  ground,  each  standing  under  a 
Gothic  canopy,  carved  in  relief.  When  compared  to  the  Romanic 
enamelled  work  in  precious  metals  they  show  little  progress.  Paint- 
ings upon  panels  had  developed  no  peculiar  style,  as  the  wood  upon 
which  they  were  executed  was  prepared  for  their  reception  by  a 
thick  priming  of  chalk,  so  that  the  methods  adopted  in  this  branch 
were  essentially  the  same  as  those  of  painted  wall  decorations. 
Even  before  the  introduction  of  the  Italian  fresco,  the  addition  of 
a  glutinous  matter  to  water-colors,  the  so-called  tempera,  was  not 
infrequent  in  mural  painting. 

Thus,  painting  upon  glass  was  the  only  form  of  monumental  art 
fitted  to  take  the  place  of  the  wall  paintings  of  the  Romanic  style, 
and  it  is  not  strange  that  it  should  have  exerted  great  influence 
upon  all  other  works  in  color.  Its  effect  is  plainly  seen,  even  in 
illumination,  which  held  the  second  place  in  the  painting  of  the 
Middle  Ages.  Until  the  time  of  Louis  IX.,  A.  D.  1226  to  1270,— 
that  is  to  say,  during  the  first  century  of  the  Gothic  style, — the  art 
of  illumination  had  altogether  retained  the  traditional  methods,  and 
had  developed  no  greater  activity  than  during  the  preceding  epoch. 
The  foundation  of  the  Library  of  St.  Louis  appears  to  have  given 
the  first  great  impulse  to  the  subsequent  development,  the  example 
of  the  king  being  followed  not  only  by  his  influential  vassals,  but  by 
other  monarchs.  In  all  the  courts  of  Europe  the  lavish  illustration 
of  books  came  into  fashion.  After  this  time  professional  writers  and 
illuminators,  standing  in  no  connection  with  the  convents,  begin  to 


648  PAINTING   OF   THE   GOTHIC   EPOCH. 

appear  in  the  tax-lists.  Dilettantism  gradually  developed  into  train- 
ed proficiency,  and  this,  in  its  turn,  into  artistic  attainment.  The 
outlines  drawn  with  the  pen  became  distinct  and  exact,  and  to  the 
constant  endeavor  clearly  to  present  the  chosen  subject  was  now 
added  a  certain  sense  of  beauty  in  form  and  color.  In  the  latter  re- 
spect the  aim  was  less  directed  towards  truth  to  nature  than  towards 
a  brilliant  decorative  effect,  a  fine  deep  blue  and  gold  being  employed 
even  in  the  elaborate  patterns  of  the  background.  This  was  due  to 
the  attractive  influence  of  painting  upon  glass.  The  unbroken  tints 
are  the  same  as  those  of  the  transparencies;  the  heavy  outlines  re- 
semble the  leading,  and  the  limitation  of  shading  to  lines  of  the  pen, 
without  alteration  of  the  local  tones,  resulted  from  an  imitation  of 
the  effects  produced  upon  the  glass  by  the  so-called  black  solder. 

In  the  fourteenth  century,  and  especially  in  the  age  of  Charles 
V.,  A.  D.  1364  to  1380,  all  this  was  altered.  After  the  erection  of 
the  Sainte-Chapelle,  under  Louis  IX.,  mural  painting  acquired  a 
higher  importance, — further  increased  by  the  construction  of  pala- 
tial edifices.  In  the  descriptions  of  the  residences  of  Charles  V. 
and  his  successors,  reference  is  often  made  to  the  fine  effect  pro- 
duced by  mural  paintings,  combined  with  wainscots  and  tapestry 
hangings.  This  threefold  decoration  was  also  adopted  in  the  pal- 
aces of  England  and  Germany.  At  this  time,  or  but  little  earlier, 
a  great  advance  was  made  in  the  mural  decoration  of  the  churches 
and  convents  of  Italy,  where  this  branch  of  painting  soon  became 
superior  to  all  other  work  in  color.  Glass  painting  had  by  that 
time  wholly  lost  its  Romanic  character,  and  had  adapted  itself  to 
the  surrounding  architecture,  giving  up  the  simple  circular  or  seg- 
mental  borders  in  favor  of  Gothic  tabernacles  with  painted  gablets 
and  finials.  Miniature  painting  also  attained  great  individuality, 
acquiring  more  and  more  a  historical  and  genre  character.  This 
was  in  great  measure  due  to  the  prominence  of  secular  books  in  the 
libraries  of  the  courts.  Backgrounds,  of  patterns  or  gold,  were  su- 
perseded by  interiors  or  landscapes ;  and  the  first  traces  appear  of 
that  realism  which  finally  led  to  the  art  of  the  Netherlands, — es- 
pecially to  the  panel  painting  of  Flanders  and  Brabant.  Through- 
out the  fourteenth  century,  painting  upon  glass  and  in  miniature 
remained  the  chief  representatives  of  art  in  color  north  of  the  Alps, 


FRANCE.  649 

the  other  branches,  until  their  final  emancipation,  being  altogether 
dependent  upon  these. 

The  panel,  painting  of  the  Northern  countries,  which  became 
so  important  in  the  fifteenth  century,  resulted  from  the  combined 
influence  of  these  two  branches.  After  that  time  France  was  no 
longer  the  centre  of  development ;  the  greatest  improvement  in  pan- 
el painting  was  effected  in  the  Netherlands,  and  at  the  same  time 
efforts  were  made  in  various  parts  of  Germany  to  keep  pace  with 
this  advance  ;  not  always,  however,  with  entire  success.  The  artists 
of  Germany  could  neither  rival,  on  the  one  hand,  the  panel  paint- 
ings of  the  Netherlands,  nor,  on  the  other,  the  mural  paintings  of 
Italy,  which  had  begun  to  exert  an  influence  upon  other  branches 
of  this  art.  By  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  the  superiority 
of  the  Netherlands  and  of  Italy  was  fully  declared,  these  countries 
offering  the  greatest  promise  for  the  future. 

FRANCE.* 

The  monumental  sculpture  of  France  soon  adapted  itself  to  the 
requirements  of  Gothic  architecture,  especially  in  regard  to  stylistic 
character.  Wall  painting,  however,  which,  up  to  this  time,  had  been 
the  chief  branch  of  colored  decoration,  was  by  no  means  furthered 
by  this  development.  In  consequence  of  the  resolution  of  the  wall 
surfaces  into  piers,  its  former  field  of  employment  was  greatly  re- 
stricted, and,  in  the  subordinate  part  which  it  was  allowed  to  take, 
remained  conventional  and  indifferent.  The  few  existing  memori- 
als of  early  Gothic  painting,  such  as  those  in  the  Cathedral  of  Tour- 
nus,  are  in  the  highest  degree  crude  and  immature.  A  certain  ad- 
vance is  evident  in  some  fragments  from  the  lower  story  of  the 
Sainte-Chapelle.  But  the  remains  preserved  from  the  time  of  Louis 
IX.  are  not  sufficient  to  give  an  adequate  idea  of  the  mural  paint- 
ing of  that  age.  In  like  manner,  the  materials  for  a  historical  con- 

*  T.  B.  Emeric-David,  Histoire  de  la  Peinture  au  Moyen-age.  Paris,  1842.  —  P.  La- 
croix,  Les  Arts  au  Moyen-age  et  a  1'epoque  de  la  Renaissance.  Paris,  1869. — J.  Labarte. 
Histoire  des  Arts  industriels.  Paris,  1864-1866. — F.  de  Lasteyrie,  Histoire  de  la  Peinture 
sur  verre  d'apres  ses  monuments  en  France.  Paris,  1853-1857. — H.  Shaw,  The  Art  of  Il- 
luminating as  practised  during  the  Middle  Ages.  II.  Ed.  London,  1870. — A.  Lecoy  de  la 
Marche,  Les  manuscrits  et  la  Miniature.  Paris,  s.  a. 


650 


TAINTING   OF   THE   GOTHIC   EPOCH. 


sideration  of  the  pictorial  art  of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centu- 
ries have  been  almost  entirely  swept  away  by  the  hand  of  time,  by 
destructive  architectural  renovations,  and  by  the  Iconoclasts, — both 
those  of  the  Reformation  and  of  the  Revolution. 

Paintings  upon  glass,  however,  exist  in  great  number.  The 
works  of  the  time  of  Abbot  Suger  in  the  first  Gothic  cathedral, 
that  of  St.  Denis  near  Paris,  are  still  entirely  Romanic,  as  might 
have  been  expected  (Fig.  399).  It  is  more  surprising  that  the  oldest 
of  the  one  hundred  and  forty-six  of  the  Cathedral  of  Chartres  and 


Fig.  399. — Part  of  one  of  the  Windows  of  St.  Denis,  Paris. 

the  one  hundred  and  eighty-three  of  the  five-aisled  Cathedral  of 
Bourges,  referable  to  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  should 
show  Romanic  features  in  the  arrangement  of  figures  and  ornamen- 
tation. This  applies  also,  in  greater  or  less  degree,  to  those  of  the 
cathedrals  of  Sens,  Le  Mans,  Auxerre,  Noyon,  Soissons,  Chalons, 
Troyes,  Rheims,  and  Amiens.  Chartres  seems  to  have  been  a  cen- 
tre for  glass  painting.  This  branch  of  artistic  activity  was  not,  like 
stone  sculpture,  connected  with  the  schools  of  architecture,  the  ex- 
ecution of  colored  glass  demanding  a  well-organized  manufactory  ; 
moreover,  the  removal  of  the  completed  works  to  their  place  of 


FRANCE.  651 

destination  could  be  effected  without  great  difficulty.  The  glass 
windows  were  generally  the  gifts  of  princes,  wealthy  citizens,  or 
guilds.  This  accounts  for  the  lack  of  organic  connection  between 
the  representations,  even  in  windows  executed  at  about  the  same 
time.  Allusions  to  the  donors  and  their  patron  saints,  attributes, 
devices,  and  even  genre  groups  illustrating  the  industries  of  the 
guilds,  are  frequent. 

During  the  thirteenth  century  the  windows  were  for  the  greater 
part  divided  into  panels,  but  in  the  fourteenth  the  framework  took 
the  forms  of  Gothic  tabernacles  similar  to  those  which  had  been 
adopted  in  the  sculptures  of  the  fagades.  Such  Gothic  details,  in 
harmony  with  the  luxurious  architectural  decoration  of  the  edifices, 
are  seen  in  the  windows  of  the  cathedrals  of  Beauvais,  Evreux,  Nar- 
bonne,  Carcassonne,  etc.  At  the  same  time,  the  former,  simpler 
method  of  dull  local  tones  was  given  up,  and  the  drawing  was  no 
longer  limited  to  black  lines,  without  light  and  shade.  Other  tints 
were  employed  besides  the  three  primary  colors,  and  the  black  sol- 
der was  in  some  cases  replaced  by  a  yellow  enamel.  This  latter  was 
of  especially  good  effect  in  the  so-called  grisailles,  windows  painted 
gray  in  gray.  The  figures,  increased  in  size,  gained  also  in  modelling 
and  shading.  Finally,  a  method  was  invented  of  coating  the  glass 
with  a  film  of  color  on  one  side  only,  so  that  high  lights  could  be 
introduced  by  thinning  this  superfice.  This  invention,  which  was 
not  made  before  the  fifteenth  century,  increased  the  artistic  effect, 
but  led  to  a  decline  in  regard  to  style.  The  figures  became  round- 
ed as  in  a  relief,  the  backgrounds  gained  in  perspective,  and  the 
compositions  were  extended.  All  this,  however,  was  not  in  con- 
formity with  the  flat  and  tapestry-like  character  which  is  alone  ap- 
propriate to  windows  and  pavements,  and  was  thus  opposed  to  the 
stylistic  requirements  of  glass  painting. 

Panel  painting  was  but  little  practised  in  France  before  the  fif- 
teenth century.  There  have  been  preserved  from  the  fourteenth 
some  altar-pieces  with  figures  of  saints,  painted  or  in  relief,  sur- 
rounded by  a  Gothic  framework,  and  also  several  shrines  with  pan- 
els of  similar  treatment ;  but  in  this  direction  France  does  not  ap- 
pear to  have  attained  to  any  higher  artistic  importance  until  the 
influence  of  the  Netherlands  had  made  itself  felt.  During  the  four- 


652  PAINTING   OF   THE   GOTHIC   EPOCH. 

teenth  century  artists  were  called  from  Italy  to  Avignon,  and  from 
the  Netherlands  to  Dijon, — rather  from  a  lack  of  native  workmen 
than  from  any  especial  preference  for  the  style  of  these  countries. 
The  phenomenal  advance  of  the  Flemish  and  Italians  in  painting 
rendered  it  natural  that  this  state  of  dependence  should  continue 
throughout  the  fifteenth  century. 

In  miniature  painting,  on  the  other  hand,  France,  during  the 
thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  took  the  lead  of  all  other  Eu- 
ropean countries.  The  art  of  writing  and  illumination,  which  in  the 
period  of  the  early  Gothic  still  retained  the  traditional  methods  of 
the  convents,  was  first  freed  from  monastic  limitations  during  the 
reign  of  Louis  IX.,  who  greatly  furthered  this  activity  by  the  found- 
ing of  his  library.  The  artistic  taste  of  this  king  could  not  be  satis- 
fied with  the  crude  and  weak  dilettantism  of  the  previous  works, 
and  miniature  painters  found  it  necessary  to  make  every  effort  in 
order  to  equal  the  workmen  in  other  branches  of  art.  The  tech- 
nical progress  is  evident  in  the  systematic  introduction  of  body  col- 
ors, in  place  of  the  light  tints  formerly  employed.  The  outlines  are 
clear  and  distinct,  the  pigments  applied  with  care  and  precision, 
and  the  brilliant  colors  produce  an  effect  similar  to  that  of  painting 
upon  glass.  There  is  no  trace  of  chiaroscuro,  of  modelling,  of  per- 
spective, or  landscape  background ;  still,  the  new  style  is  clearly 
expressed,  the  traditional  forms  and  composition  having  given  way 
to  new  conceptions  derived  from  a  direct  study  of  nature.  In  the 
Psalter  of  St.  Louis,  for  instance  (Bibl.  Nat.  Lat.,  10,525),  Abraham's 
battle  with  the  kings  is  represented  by  a  combat  of  French  knights 
in  coat  of  mail,  and  Potiphar's  wife  (Fig.  400)  appears  as  a  noble 
French  lady.  These  personages  fit  well  into  their  Gothic  framework. 
The  figures  are  no  longer  heavy  and  stiff,  but  of  lively  action  ;  not 
aged  and  sullen,  but  young,  supple,  and  natural  in  their  attitudes. 
There  is,  however,  a  certain  lack  of  energy  and  individuality.  Even 
the  dedicatory  pictures  show  scarcely  a  trace  of  that  portrait-like 
resemblance  which  was  so  pronounced  in  the  Carolingian  manu- 
scripts. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century  the  colors  of  the 
manuscripts  lost  their  brilliancy,  but  acquired  a  greater  variety  and 
truth  to  nature.  Some  weak  attempts  were  made  to  go  beyond 


FRANCE:  653 

mere  pen-drawing,  and  to  attain  a  pictorial  effect  by  modifying  the 
local  tones  in  light  and  shade.  An  advance  was  also  made  in  regard 
to  individuality,  as  may  be  seen  by  a  comparison  of  the  portrait 
figure  of  Louis  IX.  (Fig.  401),  referable  to  the  beginning  of  the  four- 
teenth  century,  with  that  of  Charles  V.  (Fig.  402),  dating  from  1379. 

The  initials  retained  certain  reminiscences  of  the  Romanic  treat- 
ment, but  the  decoration  of  foliage,  combined  with  animals  and 
monsters,  developed  into 
the  lively  border  draw- 
ings known  as  drolleries. 
The  intertwined  dragon- 
like  forms,  of  no  signifi- 
cance in  the  representa- 
tion, were  replaced  by  al- 
lusions to  fables  of  ani- 
mals, with  corresponding 
genre  scenes.  The  orna- 
mentation became  more 
delicate,  brier-vines  being 
chiefly  chosen ;  it  was 
gracefully  executed  in 
gold  and  colors,  and  far 
surpassed  in  taste  and  el- 
egance all  previous  works 
of  the  kind.  This  com- 
bination of  pictures,  ini- 
tials, and  borders  was  of 
a  decorative  and  harmo- 
nious effect,  and  fully  jus- 
tifies the  assertion  that  miniature  painting  attained  its  greatest  emi- 
nence at  this  time,  rather  than  in  the  age  succeeding  Van  Eyck. 

The  library  of  King  Charles  V.,  A.  D.  1364  to  1380,  contained 
no  less  than  nine  hundred  volumes  of  illuminations.  His  brothers, 
Jean,  Due  de  Berri  (d.  1416),  and  Philip  the  Bold,  Duke  of  Bur- 
gundy (d.  1404),  were  also  amateur  collectors  of  illustrated  manu- 
scripts. The  demand  thus  created  gave  occupation  to  many  artists, 
and  these  naturally  could  not  always  be  found  in  France.  It  even 


Fig.  400. — Scenes  from  the  Story  of  Joseph, 
ture  from  the  Psalter  of  St.  Louis. 


Minia- 


654 


PAINTING  OF   THE   GOTHIC    EPOCH. 


seems  that  the  best  illuminators  were  foreigners.  A  Flemish  paints 
er,  John  of  Bruges,  was  employed  by  Charles  V.,  and  in  the  service 
of  the  Due  de  Berri  were  several  artists  from  the  Netherlands, 
among  them  Paul  of  Limburg,  Jacquemart  Hedin,  and  the  cele- 
brated Andrien  Beauneveu  from  Hainault.  This  shows  that  even 
before  the  time  of  Van  Eyck  the  painting  of  the  Netherlands  had 
exercised  an  influence  upon  the  art  of  France  similar  to  that  ob- 
served in  the  province  of  sculpture  at  the  court  of  Philip  the  Bold 

at  Dijon,  —  not  to  speak 
of  the  Romanic  bronze- 
work  of  the  Dinandiers. 
As  was  the  case  also  in 
sculpture,  French  illumina- 
tors,— such  as  Raoul  d'Or- 
leans,  who  was  employed 
by  Charles  V.,  and  Jean 
Nichasius,  who  worked  for 
the  last  Duchess  of  Bra- 
bant,— appear  side  by  side 
with  Flemish  artists ;  the 
influence  of  the  latter, 
however,  was  undeniably 
predominant.  The  Pctitcs 
Heures  of  the  Due  de  Ber- 
ri, painted  in  great  part 
by  Andrien  Beauneveu, 
between  1401  and  1403 ; 
Jacque  mart's  Grandes 
Heures  of  1409,  both  in 
the  National  Library  of 

Paris ;  and  the  Heures,  partly  illustrated  by  Paul  of  Limburg,  dat- 
ing from  1416,  now  in  possession  of  the  Due  d'Aumale,  are  among 
the  finest  codices  existing.  That  they  were  highly  prized  even 
during  the  lifetime  of  the  artists  is  evident  from  the  fact  that 
Jacquemart's  Heures  were  valued  at  four  thousand  livres  Tournois 
in  the  inventory  of  the  estate  of  the  first  possessor.  Books  of 
almost  equal  importance  also  exist  to  which  no  names  of  artists 


Fig.  401. — Miniature  Portrait  of  King  Louis  IX., 
from  a  Document  referable  to  about  A.  D.  1320. 
National  Archives,  Paris. 


FRANCE.  655 

are  attached,  such  as  the  Mariale  in  the  Bibliotheque  Mazarine  at 
Paris,  and  the  Heures  of  1407  in  the  Bodleian  Library  at  Oxford. 

The  fully-developed  realism  of  the  art  of  the  Netherlands  of  the 
fifteenth  century  never  appears  in  the  French  illuminations.  The 
ideal  character,  and  the  sentimentality  typical  of  the  later  Gothic, 
always  remained  in  the  religious  representations, — a  certain  simi- 
larity thus  resulting  to  the  school  of  Cologne.  After  the  time  of 
Charles  greater  attention  was  given  to  portraiture,  although  that 


Fig.  402. — Miniature  Portrait  of  King  Charles  V.,  from  a  Document  dated  A.  D. 
National  Archives,  Paris. 

truth  to  nature  in  all  its  details  which  characterizes  the  work  of 
Jan  Van  Eyck  could  not  be  attained,  the  gouache  treatment  not  ad- 
mitting of  the  refinement  peculiar  to  oil  painting.  Notwithstanding 
all  this,  France  retained  some  degree  of  independence,  which  can 
be  traced  even  in  Burgundy  at  the  court  of  Philip  the  Bold  and 
his  successors,  and  in  the  Provence,  at  the  court  of  King  Ren£  of 
Anjou,  although  the  influence  of  the  Netherlands  was  especially 
marked  in  these  two  provinces.  National  peculiarities  were  most 
prominent  in  those  districts  of  France  which  had  no  direct  inter- 


656 


PAINTING   OF   THE   GOTHIC   EPOCH. 


course  with  the  Netherlands.  In  the  second  half  of  the  fifteenth 
century  appears  a  French  illuminator  of  great  importance  and  emi- 
nent independence,  Jean  Fouquet  of  Tours. 

Fouquet  was  not  a  painter  of  miniatures  alone.  The  diptych 
of  Melun,  the  work  of  his  hand,  fully  explains  the  admiration  which 
was  excited,  even  in  Italy,  by  the  portrait  of  Pope  Eugene  IV.,  ref- 
erable to  the  year  1445.  One  panel  of  this  diptych, — that  contain- 
ing the  portrait  of  Agnes  Sorel  as  the  Virgin, — is  in  the  Museum  of 
Antwerp ;  the  other  part, — with  the  treasurer  of  King  Charles  VII., 


Fig.  403. — St.  Martin  and  the  Beggar.     Miniature  by  J.  Fouquet.     Collection  of  Feuillet 

de  Conches,  Paris. 

Etienne  Chevalier,  in  the  character  of  St.  Stephen, — is  in  the  pos- 
session of  L.  Brentano  in  Frankfort-on-the-Main.  The  chief  ability 
of  Fouquet,  however,  was  displayed  in  illumination.  The  French 
translation  of  Boccaccio,  dating  from  1458,  now  in  the  Library  of 
Munich,  and  the  fragmentary  prayer-book  of  Etienne  Chevalier  in 
the  collection  of  L.  Brentano  show,  in  conception  as  well  as  in  exe- 
cution, influences  derived  from  the  Netherlands  and  Italy ;  but  the 
composition  and  the  heads  are  entirely  French,  and  this  excellent 
master  deserves  to  be  considered  as  a  true  representative  of  his  na- 


ENGLAND.  657 

tion.  The  style  of  Fouquet  forms  a  transition  between  the  Gothic 
and  the  Renaissance.  Notwithstanding  his  endeavor  to  effect  a 
compromise,  his  works  clearly  show  that,  in  the  rivalry  between 
the  Netherlands  and  Italy,  the  latter  was  to  be  successful. 

ENGLAND.* 

The  dependence  of  the  Britons  upon  the  artistic  methods  of 
the  Continent  was  the  same  in  painting  as  in  sculpture.  Even  in 
the  time  of  Henry  II.,.  A.  D.  1216  to  1272,  painters  were  called 
from  Italy,  Germany,  and  France,  the  productions  of  the  English 
themselves  being  of  but  secondary  importance.  It  was  probably 
owing  to  Italian  influence  that  mural  painting  attained  a  greater 
importance  in  England  than  in  France,  the  clergy  emulating  the 
court  in  the  decoration  of  chapels  and  halls.  Unfortunately  there 
are  but  few  memorials  of  this  activity.  In  regard  to  the  Painted 
Chamber  of  Westminster,  referable  to  the  thirteenth  century,  our 
information  is  derived  solely  from  descriptions;  and  of  the  exten- 
sive mural  paintings,  executed  in  the  fourteenth  century  under 
Edward  III.  in  the  Chapel  of  St.  Stephen  at  Westminster,  only  in- 
exact drawings  from  the  year  1811  now  remain.  They  suffice,  how- 
ever, to  exhibit  the  dependence  of  the  originals,  in  stylistic  respects, 
upon  France ;  this  becomes  especially  evident  by  a  comparison 
with  French  glass  paintings.  The  resemblance  to  these  latter  is 
particularly  striking  in  the  painted  windows  of  the  cathedrals  of 
Salisbury,  Lincoln,  York,  etc. 

The  panel  painting  of  England  shows  few  original  features,  even 
in  the  portraits,  and  displays  the  influence  of  Italy  rather  than  that 
of  France,  which  is  the  more  surprising  as  the  French,  after  the 
fourteenth  century,  had  cultivated  this  branch  with  great  success. 
The  diptych  of  King  Richard  II.  in  Wilton  House,  and  the  por- 
trait of  the  same  king  in  Westminster  Abbey,  betray  the  hand  of 
a  master  trained  in  the  school  of  Giotto  or  in  that  of  Siena.  It 
cannot  be  ascertained  whether  the  superfrontale  of  Westminster, 
dating  from  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century,  formerly  placed 

*  H.  Walpole,  Anecdotes  of  Painting  in  England,  edited  by  R.  N.  Wornum.    London, 
1849. 

42 


658  PAINTING   OF   THE   GOTHIC   EPOCH. 

above  the  high-altar  but  now  in  the  southern  transept,  is  an  Eng- 
lish production  or  was  imported  from  abroad.  At  all  events,  the 
work,  in  style  as  well  as  in  the  arrangement  of  the  figures  of  saints 
standing  in  tabernacles,  and  the  small  scenes  in  the  compartments, 
cannot  be  distinguished  from  the  French  altar-pieces  of  the  age 
succeeding  Louis  IX. 

The  best  results  in  England  were  attained  in  miniature  paint- 
ing, as  had  been  the  case  during  the  Anglo-Saxon  period.  The 
early  national  tradition  was  here  worth  preserving,  and  retained  its 
hold  even  until  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century,  long  after  the 
influence  of  France  had  changed  the  general  character  of  this  as  of 
all  other  branches  of  English  painting.  The  gorgeous  red  and  blue 
colors  derived  from  glass  painting  and  customary  in  the  miniatures 
of  the  age  of  St.  Louis,  did  not  continue  to  be  long  employed  in 
England.  Particular  attention  was  devoted  to  elaborate  borders, 
these  giving  ample  opportunity  for  British  humor  to  indulge  in 
somewhat  broad  drolleries.  On  the  whole,  English  works  show 
realistic  tendencies  and  a  taste  for  portrait -like  characterization. 
It  is  worthy  of  note,  in  this  connection,  that  the  English  did  not 
readily  accept  the  methods  of  their  Dutch  neighbors,  either  in  illu- 
mination or  in  panel  painting.  Although  artists  from  the  Nether- 
lands were  occasionally  employed  in  England,  their  influence  is 
never  apparent  in  the  art  of  this  country.  This  was  undoubtedly 
due  in  great  measure  to  the  unfavorable  political  conditions  of  the 
island  in  the  second  half  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

ITALY.* 

In  no  other  country  of  Europe  affected  by  the  Gothic  style  was 
the  development  of  architecture  so  divergent  from  that  of  France 
as  in  Italy;  in  none  was  the  sculpture  so  individual.  This  inde- 

*  G.  Rosini,  Storia  della  pittura  italiana,  esposta  coi  monumenti.  Pisa,  1839-1854. — 
F.  v.  Rumohr,  Italienische  Forschungen.  Berlin,  1827-1831. — E.  Forster,  Denkmaler  der 
italienischen  Malerei,  Geschichte  der  italienischen  Kunst.  Leipzig,  1870-1882.  —  Crowe 
und  Cavalcaselle,  Geschichte  der  italienischen  Malerei.  Leipzig,  1869-1876. — C.  Schnaase, 
Geschichte  der  bildenden  Kunst  im  Mittelalter.  II.  Ed.  Vol.  V.  Dusseldorf,  1878. — 
W.  Lubke,  Geschichte  der  italienischen  Malerei.  Stuttgart,  1878. — J.  Burckhardt,  Der 
Cicerone.  V.  Ed.  Vol.  III.  Leipzig,  1884. 


ITALY.  659 

pendence  was  still  more  marked  in  painting.  Northern  influences 
can  be  traced  in  the  architecture  of  Italy,  and  a  certain  similarity 
may  be  detected  between  the  sculptures  of  Rheims  and  Siena;  but 
there  is  not  the  slightest  connection  between  the  Tuscan  painting 
of  the  fourteenth-  century  and  that  of  France  and  Germany. 

The  country  of  the  Apennines  was,  in  painting,  influenced  by 
artistic  traditions  of  much  less  promise  than  those  of  the  North. 
Neither  in  Germany  nor  in  France  had  the  painting  of  the  Ro- 
manic epoch  been  so  utterly  outworn  and  debased  as  that  of  the 
early  Christians  and  Byzantines,  or  so  crude  as  the  independent  at- 
tempts of  Italy.  In  the  Northern  countries  the  conventional  and 
the  original  elements  had  already  formed  a  combination  of  much 
fecundity,  the  existing  methods  and  types  being  transformed  and 
improved.  In  Italy,  on  the  other  hand,  it  was  necessary  to  cast 
aside  altogether  the  decrepit  and  sterile  art  which  had  previously 
obtained. 

The  painting  of  the  Gothic  epoch  in  Italy  differed  also  from 
that  of  France  and  Germany,  inasmuch  as  far  less  attention  was 
devoted  to  illumination  and  stained  glass,  the  Italians  chiefly  fur- 
thering mural  and  panel  painting, — branches  which  on  the  north  of 
the  Alps  were  almost  wholly  neglected  during  the  thirteenth  and 
fourteenth  centuries. 

Among  the  productions  of  Italy  in  this  art,  it  is  beyond  ques- 
tion that  the  best  were  those  which  followed  Byzantine  traditions, 
— derived  either  from  the  works  of  Ravenna,  of  the  time  of  Justin- 
ian, or  from  the  examples  in  Venice,  Rome,  and  Lower  Italy  im- 
ported during  later  ages  from  the  Eastern  Empire.  The  mosaics 
of  the  Cathedral  of  Spoleto,  executed  by  Solsernus  A.  D.  1207,  and 
those  of  the  Baptistery  of  Florence,  referable  to  Andrea  Tafi  and 
Fra  Jacopo,  completed  in  1225,  in  their  servile  imitation  of  older 
Byzantine  models  can  claim  no  higher  merit  than  that  of  technical 
ability ;  yet,  notwithstanding  this  dependence,  they  are  superior  to 
the  productions  of  those  contemporaries  who  endeavored  to  carry 
out  their  own  original  designs.  This  is  true  even  of  the  most  es- 
teemed of  these  artists  :  Giunta  Pisano,  for  instance,  who  worked 
between  1210  and  1236,  and  is  at  his  worst  when  he  emancipates 
himself  from  Byzantine  models ;  or  Margaritone  of  Arezzo,  A.  D. 


660  PAINTING  OF   THE   GOTHIC   EPOCH. 

1236  to  1313,  whose  helpless  and  uncouth  dilettantism  is  apparent 
in  a  large  picture  in  the  National  Gallery  of  London. 

The  chief  merit  of  Giovanni  Cimabue  of  Florence  and  his  con- 
temporary Guido  (Graziani)  of  Siena  consists  in  having  given  more 
grace  and  gentleness  of  expression,  and  more  action  to  their  colos- 
sal madonnas,  especially,  also,  to  the  surrounding  angels,  than  had 
previously  been  attempted.  In  conception  and  execution  they 
were  still  hampered  by  Byzantine  limitations.  The  Madonna  of 
Cimabue,  in  the  Capella  Ruccellai  of  S.  Maria  Novella  at  Florence 
(Fig.  404),  and  those  in  the  Academy  of  that  city  and  the  Louvre, 
have  about  the  same  moderate  degree  of  animation  as  that  of  Guido 
in  S.  Domenico  at  Siena ;  it  is  hence  impossible  to  speak  of  a  break 
of  the  traditions  through  striking  innovations  in  this  regard,  or  of 
any  marked  contrast  between  Florentine  and  Sienese  art.  The  su- 
periority of  Cimabue  may  be  conjectured  from  his  mural  paintings 
at  Assisi ;  these  would  doubtless  serve  to  heighten  the  estimation  in: 
which  he  is  at  present  held,  were  it  not  that  their  bad  state  of  pres- 
ervation obliges  us  to  base  our  opinion  chiefly  upon  the  madonnas 
before  mentioned.  At  all  events,  the  series  in  question  exhibits 
much  life  in  gesture  and  expression,  contrasting  strongly  with  the 
stiffness  of  the  traditional  types,  and  showing  features  fully  worthy 
of  the  master  of  Giotto. 

If  Cimabue  was  not  quite  equalled  by  his  contemporary  Guido 
of  Siena,  he  appears  to  have  been  surpassed  by  the  Sienese  Duccio 
di  Buoninsegna,  who  worked  between  1282  and  1320.  The  chief 
fame  of  this  artist,  as  of  Guido,  was  attained  in  panel  painting,  but 
he  deserves  to  be  considered  in  this  connection  because  of  the  mon- 
umental size  of  his  most  remarkable  work,  the  altar-piece  of  the  Ca- 
thedral of  Siena,  executed  between  1308  and  1311,  and  now  exist- 
ing only  in  fragments.  Although  the  Byzantine  character  is  still 
evident,  the  Madonna  shows  a  great  advance  in  regard  to  expres- 
sion, and  this  is  even  more  marked  in  the  angels  and  saints.  The 
representations  of  the  Passion,  formerly  upon  the  back  of  the  altar, 
are  of  simple  arrangement,  ennobled  by  a  spirituality  quite  new  in 
Italy,  but  which  in  later  times  became  characteristic  of  the  Sienese 
and  Umbrian  schools. 

The  fame  of  Duccio  was  obscured  by  that  of  his  Florentine  con- 


ITALY. 


661 


Fig.  404. — Madonna  Rucellai,  by  Cimabue,  in  S.  Maria  Novella,  Florence. 

temporary,  Giotto  di  Bondone,  who  was  born  in  Del  Colle,  near 
Vespignano,  about  the  year  1266.  He  stood  in  a  relation  to  the 
sculptor  Giovanni  Pisano  similar  to  that  of  Cimabue  to  Niccolo. 


662  PAINTING   OF   THE   GOTHIC   EPOCH. 

• 

The  two  latter  artists  have  certain  archaic  and  Romanic  tendencies  ' 
in  common,  while  the  two  former  resemble  each  other  in  their  real- 
istic methods,  more  in  harmony  with  Gothic  ideals.  In  regard  to 
truth  to  nature,  in  form  and  expression,  Giotto  learned  more  from 
Giovanni  Pisano  than  from  his  master  Cimabue,  whose  archaism  and 
Byzantinism  he  endeavored  to  overcome.  The  peculiar  merit  of 
Giotto's  art  consists  in  the  substitution  of  his  own  observation  of 
nature  for  outworn  forms,  of  his  individual  ideas  for  traditional  con- 
ceptions. Similar  attempts  had  previously  led  only  to  a  crude  di- 
lettantism :  the  genius  of  Giotto  was  the  first  to  master  this  difficult 
task.  In  order  to  accomplish  this  he  simplified  his  means  as  much 
as  possible,  avoiding  all  complications,  and  endeavored  only  to  rep- 
resent his  subject  faithfully  and  clearly.  The  positions,  gestures, 
and  garments  are  simple  and  unaffected ;  ornamental  lines  and  effec- 
tive draperies  were  as  foreign  to  his  nature  as  were  rich  details  or 
elaborate  architecture  and  landscapes.  The  heads  are  typical  and 
of  no  individual  interest,  being  normal,  but  with  little  personality 
or  beauty.  The  gestures  are  moderate  and  natural,  but  not  always 
rendered  with  understanding  of  the  structure  of  the  body,  the  lack 
of  which  is  especially  manifest  in  the  inorganic  hands  and  feet.  On 
the  whole,  the  dramatic  action  is  well  balanced  and  forcibly  ex- 
pressed. There  are  no  purposeless  and  idle  figures ;  each  takes  a 
direct  part  in  the  scene.  The  naive  rendering  agrees  well  with  the 
simple  and  artistic  conception.  There  is  always  an  impressive  truth 
of  characterization,  the  imposing  effect  of  which  is  heightened  by 
the  scanty  means  employed. 

Giotto  seems  to  have  followed  Cimabue  to  Assisi  about  the  year 
1296,  where,  as  the  assistant  of  his  former  master,  he  executed  the 
paintings  of  the  Chapel  of  S.  Francesco,  consisting  of  twenty-eight 
representations  of  the  legend  of  that  saint.  It  was  of  much  im- 
portance for  the  development  of  Giotto's  style,  that,  in  this  first 
task  upon  which  he  was  engaged,  the  novelty  of  the  subjects  ren- 
dered a  strict  adherence  to  traditional  models  impossible.  It  is  not 
known  whether  the  resolution  to  give  expression  to  his  own  original 
conceptions,  even  in  those  representations  which  for  centuries  had 
been  conventionalized,  dates  from  the  time  of  his  employment  in 
Rome,  between  1298  and  1300.  His  works  in  that  city, — especially 


ITALY.  663 

the  much-restored  mosaic  of  St.  Peter  walking  upon  the  sea  (the  so- 
called  Navicella),  in  the  portico  of  St.  Peter,— are  in  so  bad  a  state 
of  preservation  that  no  certain  conclusions  can  be  drawn  from  them. 
It  may,  however,  be  presumed  that  the  nature  of  the  technical  exe- 
cution, and  the  previous  training  of  his  Roman  assistants,  greatly  in- 
terfered with  the  display  of  his  own  originality.  This  was  the  more 
natural  in  Rome,  where  numerous  works  had  at  that  time  been  exe- 
cuted in  the  traditional  method  ;  as,  for  instance,  the  series  of  mosa- 
ics of  the  life  of  the  Virgin  in  the  apse  of  S.  Maria  in  Trastevere, 
completed  by  Pietro  Cavallini  in  1291 ;  those  in  the  apses  of  S.  Gio- 
vanni in  Laterano  and  S.  Maria  Maggiore,  referable  to  Jacopo  Tor- 
riti,  A.  D.  1288  to  1292;  and  those  in  the  portico  of  the  last-named 
church,  by  Filippo  Rusuti.  Giotto  more  systematically  carried  out 
his  peculiar  conceptions  and  methods  in  the  next  painting  upon 
which  he  was  engaged,  between  1303  and  1306:  his  most  extensive 
and  best  preserved  work,  the  decoration  of  the  Chapel  of  S.  Maria 
degli  Scrovegni  at  Padua,  usually  called  dell'  Arena,  because  of  the 
neighboring  amphitheatre. 

The  edifice  is  itself  bare  and  of  no  architectural  importance,  but 
the  walls  are  entirely  covered  with  paintings,  all  of  which  are  by 
Giotto,  excepting  those  in  the  choir,  and  the  representations  of  the 
Virtues  and  Vices,  gray  in  gray,  on  the  socle.  There  is  no  trace 
of  the  subordination  of  painting  to  architecture,  the  building  being 
constructed  with  sole  reference  to  mural  decoration.  The  three 
horizontal  rows  of  pictures,  one  above  another,  are  altogether  op- 
posed to  the  vertical  tendencies  of  the  Gothic  style.  Even  greater 
freedom,  however,  was  exhibited  in  regard  to  the  mode  of  artistic 
presentation.  In  the  choice  of  subjects,  and  especially  in  their  em- 
ployment for  larger  or  smaller  compositions,  Giotto  is  here  entirely 
original.  At  times  the  dramatic,  at  times  the  epic  element  prevails, 
and  even  genre  features  appear, — only  the  lyric  character  of  Sienese 
painting  is  lacking.  There  are  no  reminiscences  whatever  of  the 
courtliness  and  conventionality  of  French  art.  Giotto's  expression 
of  sentiment  is  forcible,  occasionally  exaggerated,  and  shows  demo- 
cratic power  rather  than  aristocratic  self-command  and  dignity.  In 
pathetic  scenes,  such  as  the  Entombment,  it  rises  into  wild  passion ; 
the  gestures  are  unrestrained,  the  lamentation  clamorous.  The  ac- 


664  PAINTING  OF   THE   GOTHIC   EPOCH. 

tion  is  so  concentrated  that  the  foremost  figures  turn  their  backs 
upon  the  beholders.  Never  is  a  figure  introduced  for  the  sake  of 
effect,  never  has  an  attitude  been  chosen  because  merely  it  was  fa- 
vorable to  the  composition ;  on  the  contrary,  it  often  happens  that 
positions  extremely  disadvantageous  in  artistic  respects  are  adopted 
through  a  desire  to  attain  a  striking  characterization  of  the  subject. 


Fig.  4O5- — The  Awakening  of  Lazarus.     Wall  Painting  by  Giotto  in  S.  Maria  dell'  Arena 

at  Padua. 

There  is  no  trace  of  portrait-like  individuality.  The  type  of  face 
represented  by  the  artist  is  always  the  same,  the  narrow  almond- 
shaped  eyes  with  the  dark  pupils  are  unnatural,  and  the  other  feat- 
ures but  little  studied,  yet  the  countenance  conveys  the  intended 
expression.  The  modelling  of  the  body  is  often  incorrect,  but  the 
positions  and  gestures  are  rightly  conceived,  and,  in  the  principal 
figures  at  least,  full  of  dignity  and  grandeur.  The  garments  have 


ITALY.  665 

entirely  lost  the  Byzantine  superabundance  of  folds.  When  com- 
pared with  the  rich  draperies  of  Northern  Gothic  art  they  have  al- 
most a  scant  appearance ;  still,  the  necessary  lines  are  given  with  fine 
taste  and  discrimination.  The  minor  parts  are  well  subordinated, 
and  the  details,  so  prominent  in  Northern  art,  are  here  but  second- 
ary. The  landscape  and  vegetation  are  extremely  simple,  and  the 


Fig.  406. — The  Vow  of  Poverty.     Painting  by  Giotto  upon  the  Ceiling  of  S.  Francesco 

at  Assisi. 

architecture  merely  symbolical ;  the  animals  are  treated  as  accessa- 
ries, with  no  deep  study  of  nature. 

The  later  works  of  Giotto  show  greater  maturity  of  style,  cor- 
rectness of  form,  higher  expression,  and  even  beauty.  This  is  evi- 
dent in  the  four  allegorical  paintings  of  the  ceiling,  at  the  inter- 
section of  transept  and  nave  in  the  lower  story  of  S.  Francesco  at 
Assisi,  representing  the  apotheosis  of  the  founder  of  the  order, 
and  the  three  vows  of  Poverty  (Fig.  406),  Chastity,  and  Obedience. 


666  PAINTING  OF   THE   GOTHIC   EPOCH. 

The  improvement  is  still  more  noticeable  in  the  series  of  the  lives 
of  St.  Francis,  St.  John  the  Baptist,  and  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  in 
the  chapels  of  the  families  of  Bardi  and  Peruzzi  in  S.Croce  at  Flor- 
ence, which  far  surpass  the  similar  representations  at  Assisi  and 
Padua.  It  is  only  to  be  regretted  that  they  are  not  nearly  so  well 
preserved  as  those  last  mentioned. 

Giotto  opened  to  the  painting  of  Italy  its  chief  field,  that  of 
mural  decoration,  executed  al  fresco,  —  in  water-colors  upon  fresh 
plaster,  —  this  process  having  apparently  been  introduced  by  him. 
Mosaic -work  was  almost  entirely  superseded  by  this  method,  and 
even  glass  painting,  the  monumental  art  of  the  North,  was  consid- 
ered so  far  inferior  that  it  was  but  rarely  employed  in  Italy.  Nor 
did  the  other  branches  of  painting  become  popular.  While,  in  the 
northern  countries,  during  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries, 
miniature- like  panel  painting  and  the  illumination  of  books  were 
preferred,  in  Italy  the  best  artists  devoted  their  activity  to  monu- 
mental fresco.  Giotto  was  employed,  with  a  large  number  of  pupils 
and  assistants,  in  Assisi,  Rome,  Padua,  Rimini,  and  Naples,  to  which 
places  he  was  called  with  much  honor.  He  finally  established  his 
school  in  Florence,  then  the  centre  of  Italian  culture,  thus  giving  to 
the  painting  of  that  city  a  pre-eminence  which  it  maintained  for 
more  than  a  hundred  years. 

Afthe  death  of  Giotto,  A.  D.  1337,  his  school  was  firmly  estab- 
lished. Among  his  pupils,  Taddeo  Gaddi  (d.  1366)  longest  enjoyed 
the  training  of  the  master,  and,  in  the  mural  paintings  of  the  Capella 
Baroncelli  in  S.  Croce  in  Florence,  approaches  most  closely  to  the 
works  of  Giotto  in  the  same  church, — being  inferior  to  him  only  in 
concentration  and  force  of  dramatic  action.  If,  as  Vasari  says,  the 
decorations  of  the  Chapter-hall  of  S.  Maria  Novella  (the  so-called 
Spanish  Chapel)  are  by  the  hand  of  Gaddi,  he  is  not  without  a  cer- 
tain individuality.  These  paintings  are  distinguished  by  a  grandeur 
and  depth  of  feeling  which  are  seldom  found  in  the  works  of  Giotto, 
and  rather  resemble  the  products  of  Sienese  art.  It  is  not  known 
whether  the  interesting  symbolical  compositions,  which  compare 
with  the  legendary  representations  of  Giotto  as  do  the  principles  of 
the  Dominicans  with  those  of  the  Minorites,  are  wholly  referable  to 
the  artist,  or  were  dictated  by  the  scholastic  theology  of  the  breth- 


ITALY.  667 

ren.  Bernardo  di  Daddo  would  rank  with  Taddeo,  were  it  certain, 
or  even  probable,  that,— as  Milanesi  assumes  from  the  Codex  Gad- 
diani  in  the  Bibliotheca  Magliabechiana,  —  he  executed  the  large 
frescos  in  the  Campo  Santo  of  Pisa,  the  Triumph  of  Death  and 
the  Last  Judgment,  erroneously  attributed  by  Vasari  to  Orcagna. 
The  first  of  these  pictures  especially,  in  direct  observation  of 
nature  and  depth  of  thought,  surpasses  even  the  works  of  Giotto. 
The  expression  of  the  heads  cannot  be  accounted  for  without  as- 
suming the  Sienese  influence  of  Simone  di  Martino.  Among  the 
more  distinguished  followers  of  Giotto  must  be,  mentioned  the  artist 
of  the  frescos  in  the  Capella  Strozzi,  in  the  left  transept  of  S.  Maria 
Novella  in  Florence,  which  show  a  considerable  advance  over  Giotto 
in  the  drawing  of  the  human  form  ;  this  is  not,  however,  so  apparent 
in  the  Last  Judgment  and  the  Hell  as  in  the  Paradise.  The  artist  is 
Andrea  di  Cione  (Orcagna — d.  1368),  whose  activity  in  architecture 
and  sculpture  has,  like  that  of  Giotto,  been  referred  to. 

Maso  di  Banco,  who  executed  the  frescos  in  the  Capella  S.  Sil- 
vestro  of  S.  Croce  in  Florence,  was  under  the  direct  training  of 
Giotto.  But  the  influence  of  the  great  master  is  to  be  observed 
also  in  the  works  of  artists  not  connected  with  his  school,  and  in 
those  of  self-educated  painters.  This  was  the  case  with  Buonamico 
Cristofani  (Buffalmaco),  if,  indeed,  the  Crucifixion,  Resurrection,  and 
Ascension  in  the  Campo  Santo  of  Pisa  are  to  be  ascribed  to  him ; 
probably,  also,  with  Maestro  Stefano,  renowned  as  Scimia  della 
Natura  (Ape  of  Nature),  and  his  son  Giotto  di  Stefano  (Giottino), 
although  the  lack  of  attested  works  does  not  warrant  absolute  cer- 
tainty in  regard  to  the  two  latter  artists.  The  influence  of  Giotto, 
in  the  second  generation  of  his  Florentine  school,  is  still  strongly  ap- 
parent in  Agnolo  Gaddi,  Jacopo  di  Casentino,  Giovanni  da  Milano, 
pupils  of  Taddeo  Gaddi ;  in  Francesco  Traini  da  Pisa,  the  follower 
of  Orcagna,  and  in  Andrea  da  Firenze,  Antonio  Veneziano,  Fran- 
cesco da  Volterra,  Pietro  Puccio  da  Orvieto,  and  others.  Sienese 
influence  is  noticeable  in  several  of  these,  but  that  of  the  school  of 
Giotto  is  unmistakable  in  all.  It  continued  unaltered  far  into  the 
fifteenth  century,  through  the  third  and  fourth  generations,  as  is 
shown  by  Spinello  Aretino,  Nicola  di  Pietro  Cierino,  Fra  Lorenzo 
da  Firenze,  and  Gherardo  Stamina. 


668  PAINTING   OF   THE   GOTHIC   EPOCH. 

An  acquaintance  with  the  works  of  Giotto  and  his  school  is  to 
be  traced  even  in  the  style  of  artists  who  seem  never  to  have  visited 
Florence.  The  paintings  of  the  Incoronata  at  Naples,  which  in  the 
time  of  Vasari  were  held  to  be  by  the  hand  of  Giotto  himself,  might 
to-day  be  so  considered,  were  it  not  rendered  certain,  both  by  the 
subject  and  by  the  date  of  the  erection  of  the  chapel,  that  they 
must  have  been  executed  after  the  year  1352.  It  is  not  now  known 
to  whom  they  are  to  be  ascribed,  and  it  is  possible  that  their  artist 
was  a  Florentine ;  still,  the  attested  works  of  the  Neapolitan  Ro- 
berto di  Oderisio  do  not  materially  differ  from  them.  The  decora- 
tion of  the  Capella  dell'  Arena  fully  accounts,  in  point  of  style,  for 
the  works  of  Guariento  in  Padua  and  Venice,  and  for  those  of 
Altichiero  da  Zevio  of  Verona  and  Jacopo  Avanzi, — who  together 
executed  the  beautiful  pictures  in  the  Capella  S.  Felice  of  S.  Anto- 
nio at  Padua  (Fig.  407), — without  our  being  obliged  to  assume  that 
these  artists  stood  in  any  personal  connection  with  Giotto.  The 
influence  of  the  master  naturally  appears  in  Bologna,  in  the  produc- 
tions of  Vitale  and  Lippo  di  Dalmasio.  Barnaba  of  Modena  would 
not  have  been  called  to  Pisa  and  intrusted  with  the  execution  of 
mural  paintings  if  his  art  had  not  been  deemed  similar  and  equal  to 
that  of  the  other  painters  of  the  Campo  Santo.  In  panel  painting 
his  methods  were  more  archaistic,  as  were  also  those  of  Tommaso  da 
Mutina,  who  transferred  the  scene  of  his  activity  to  Prague,  while 
Stamina  worked  chiefly  in  Spain. 

No  real  progress  is  evident  in  the  works  of  these  artists.  What 
was  gained  in  correctness,  particularly  in  the  modelling  of  the  hands 
and  feet,  was  lost  in  ideal  conception,  the  simple  grandeur  of  the 
composition  being  neglected  in  the  elaboration  of  the  details.  As 
a  matter  of  course,  a  mechanical  and  mannered  treatment,  and  forms 
without  deep  significance,  became  prominent ;  the  more  as  the  tech- 
nical ability,  practice,  and  experience  increased. 

Only  in  one  Italian  town,  Siena,  did  any  noteworthy  indepen- 
dence appear,  this  being  developed  by  a  master  whose  artistic  prin- 
ciples differed  radically  from  those  of  Giotto,  but  who  in  many  re- 
spects fully  equalled  the  Florentine  master.  Mention  has  already 
been  made  of  Duccio  di  Buoninsegna  as  emulating  Cimabue.  The 
fame  of  Giotto  was  similarly  rivalled  by  his  younger  contemporary, 


ITALY. 

Simone  di  Martino,  A.  D.  1284  to  1344,  whose  chief  work,  the  large 
mural  painting  in  the  Town -hall  of  Siena,  representing  the  Virgin 
and  Saints,  was  completed  in  1315.  The  art  of  Simone  has,  on  the 
whole,  more  in  common  with  Gothic  principles  than  has  that  of 
Giotto ;  he  cared  less  for  dramatic  realism  and  characterization  than 
for  delicate  expression  combined  with  a  high  feeling  for  beauty, 
such  as  is  seldom  found  in  the  productions  of  the  Florentine  school. 


Fig.  407. — The  Martyrdom  of  St.  George.     Fresco  in  the  Capella  S.  Felice  of  S.  Antonio 

at  Padua. 

The  types  of  the  Madonna,  of  the  Angels  and  Saints  (Fig.  408),  as 
seen  in  this  picture,  and  the  reverent  and  devotional  attitude  of 
every  figure,  are  to  be  found  in  the  Gothic  sculptures  of  France,  but 
not  in  the  works  of  the  school  of  Giotto.  The  Sienese  conception 
here  evident  is  altogether  opposed  to  the  Florentine :  the  schools 
standing  in  such  relation  as  that  of  Cologne  to  that  of  Flanders 
and  Brabant.  The  same  traits  appear  in  the  mural  paintings  of 


6/o 


PAINTING   OF   THE   GOTHIC   EPOCH. 


Avignon,  in  which  town  Simone  passed  the  latter  part  of  his  life. 
The  artist,  however,  was  by  no  means  wanting  in  power,  as  is  evi- 
dent from  the  equestrian  portrait  of  General  Guidoriccio  Folignani, 
executed  by  Simone,  A.  D.  1328,  in  the  Town-hall  of  Siena,  on  the 
wall  opposite  the  Madonna  before  mentioned.  His  fame  is  founded 
in  great  measure  upon  his  portraits,  chiefly  those  of  women,  which 
show  great  power  of  characterization.  In  this  branch  he  adopted 
the  practice  of  panel  painting,  as  will  be  mentioned  hereafter. 

Simone's  brother,  Donate  di  Martino,  and  his  brother-in-law, 
Lippo  Memmi,  seem  to  have  been  his  assistants  and  imitators,  the 
style  of  the  master  being  recognizable  in  the  Madonna  of  Lippo  in 


Fig.  408. — Part  of  the  Fresco  of  Simone  di  Martino  in  the  Town-hall  of  Siena. 

the  Town-hall  of  S.  Gimignano.  A  more  independent  position  was 
attained  by  the  brothers  Pietro  and  Ambrogio  di  Lorenzo.  The 
former  is  known  as  a  painter  upon  panels,  while  the  latter  deserves 
to  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  greatest  masters  of  his  time,  on  ac- 
count of  his  fresco  in  the  Hall  of  the  Nine  in  the  Palazzo  Publico 
of  Siena,  executed  between  1338  and  1340.  This  latter  work,  one 
of  the  best  productions  of  its  kind  of  the  Middle  Ages,  represents 
good  government  with  its  beneficent  results,  and,  in  a  somewhat 
weaker  companion-piece,  tyranny  and  its  consequences.  In  general 
arrangement  the  pictures  resemble  the  allegorical  paintings  of  the 
Spanish  Chapel  at  Florence ;  but  the  scholasticism  of  the  composi- 
tion is  more  rigid  and  inartistic,  the  allegories  being  in  this  respect 


ITALY.  6/1 

inferior  to  those  of  Giotto  in  the  Church  of  S.  Francesco  at  Assisi. 
In  beauty  of  form  and  expression,  on  the  other  hand,  they  far  sur- 
pass all  contemporary  works  of  Florence,  in  some  details  even  equal- 
ling the  classic  remains  of  Pompeii  and  of  the  oldest  catacombs. 

The  other  masters  of  Siena  are  more  inferior  to  Simone  and 
Ambrogio  than  are  the  later  Florentines  to  Giotto.  Barna,  Bartolo 
di  Fredi,  Andrea  Vanni,  Taddeo  di  Bartolo  di  Mino,  and  others, 
had  an  academic  and  mechanical  routine  which,  with  the  senti- 
mental tendencies  of  the  Sienese,  often  resulted  in  a  vacant  and 
disagreeable  expression  almost  amounting  to  a  grimace.  The  Hall 
of  Paintings,  at  Siena,  is  thus  unattractive  and  unsatisfactory.  The 
attention  of  the  later  Sienese  artists  was  directed  rather  to  panel 
painting  than  to  fresco,  this  corresponding  not  only  to  their  individ- 
ual abilities,  but  to  the  general  tendencies  of  their  school,  which, 
while  foreign  to  the  epic  and  dramatic  character  of  mural  painting, 
were  better  adapted  to  small  devotional  pictures. 

During  the  fifteenth  century  both  schools  attained  to  an  emi- 
nence worthy  of  their  great  beginnings.  The  higher  artistic  quali- 
ties of  both,  the  dramatic  action  of  the  Florentines,  and  the  lyric 
sentiment  of  the  Sienese  were  combined.  This  was  effected  by  two 
masters,  Masolino  and  Fiesole,  whose  appearance  marks  the  transi- 
tion from  the  Middle  Ages  to  the  Renaissance. 

Masolino  da  Panicale,  born  about  1383,  followed  chiefly  the  meth- 
ods of  Giotto.  It  is  not  definitely  known  how  and  where  he  passed 
the  early  part  of  his  life,  nor  whether  he  was  indeed  a  pupil  of  Star- 
nina,  as  Vasari  says.  Between  1423  and  1425  he  was  in  Florence; 
after  this  he  worked  for  two  years  in  Hungary,  whither  he  had  fol- 
lowed the  fortunate  adventurer  Filippo  Scolari ;  later  he  was  em- 
ployed in  Castiglione  d'Olona,  near  Varese,  in  the  district  of  Como, 
.where,  in  the  Collegiate  Church  and  in  the  Baptistery,  he  executed 
a  number  of  paintings,  those  of  the  latter  building  being  dated  1435. 
These  are  the  only  works  which  can  be  ascribed  to  him  with  cer- 
tainty. It  is  possible,  however,  that  they  were  preceded  by  those 
in  the  Chapel  of  St.  Catherine  in  S.  Clemente  at  Rome,  and  by  the 
frescos  in  the  Capella  Brancacci  of  the  Church  of  the  Carmelites  at 
Florence,  which  are  undoubtedly  referable  to  the  beginning  of  the 
third  decade  of  the  fifteenth  century.  His  share  in  the  latter  paint- 


6/2  PAINTING  OF   THE   GOTHIC    EPOCH. 

ings  is  not  to  be  distinguished,  and  his  works  in  Castiglione  and 
S.  Clemente,  although  of  no  slight  merit,  are  based  upon  the  style 
of  Giotto ;  hence,  it  is  not  possible  to  place  Masolino  at  the  head 
of  the  great  advance  of  the  Quatrocento. 

Fiesole,  his  contemporary,  has  better  title  to  this  distinction. 
Guido  di  Pietro,  born  at  Vicchio,  near  Mugello,  in  1387,  upon  en- 
tering the  Dominican  convent  in  Fiesole,  A.  D.  1407,  took  the  name 
of  Fra  Giovanni,  and  wore  the  habit  of  the  order  until  his  death 
at  an  advanced  age.  The  last  decades  of  his  life  were  passed  in 
S.Marco  at  Florence, and  in  S.  Maria  Sopra  Minerva  at  Rome.  His 
training  was  certainly  Florentine,  but  his  ecstatic  piety  led  him  to 
an  expression  of  sentiment  similar  to  that  of  Simone  and  Ambrogio. 
Truly  mediaeval  in  his  art,  he  felt,  rather  than  understood,  nature. 
There  are  many  imperfections  in  the  forms,  but  in  the  devotional 
rapture  of  his  visions  he  envelops  his  figures  in  a  celestial  halo 
which  admits  of  no  doubt  as  to  the  depth  of  his  inspiration,  and 
compensates  for  many  defects  of  drawing.  He  is  at  his  best  in  the 
representation  of  glorified  saints,  a  subject  in  which  this  most  eccle- 
siastical of  all  painters  has  never  been  surpassed.  He  is  inferior 
when  he  abandons  the  heavenly  spheres  of  the  blessed  or  the  ec- 
stasies of  the  holy  ones  on  earth,  and  becomes  almost  scurrilous  in 
representing  malice  and  violence,  feelings  altogether  remote  from 
the  heart  of  Angelico,  as  he  was  named  at  his  beatification.  If  the 
compositions  of  Giotto  may  b'e  termed  dramas,  those  of  Fiesole  are 
hymns.  Both  are  deficient  in  objective  realism,  but  each  in  his  own 
direction  has  great  subjective  power  and  truth. 

The  excellence  of  Fiesole  was  less  dependent  upon  the  spirit  of 
his  age  than  upon  that  of  his  subject.  His  best  production  is  the 
large  Crucifixion  in  the  Chapter-hall  of  S.  Marco,  at  Florence,  which 
convent  he  rendered  a  museum  of  his  art,  every  painting  by  him  in 
the  cells  of  his  brethren  being,  in  its  way,  of  great  effect  and  attrac- 
tion. It  may  even  be  said  that  the  attempt  to  attain  a  higher  de- 
gree of  realism,  to  which  he  was  induced  by  the  progress  of  his  later 
contemporaries,  was  by  no  means  advantageous.  This  is  evident  in 
the  general  effect  of  the  series  of  paintings,  begun  by  him  in  1347,  in 
the  Chapel  of  Nicolas  V.  in  the  Vatican.  In  the  main,  however,  he 
was  but  little  open  to  outward  influences,  notwithstanding  the  fact 


ITALY.  673 

that,  when  his  tomb  in  S.  Maria  Sopra  Minerva  at  Rome  was  closed 
in  1455,  the  new  era  in  Italian  painting  had  long  since  commenced. 
The  last  mediaeval  artist  of  Italy,  he  fully  expressed  the  mystic 
ecclesiasticism  of  the  Middle  Ages,  as  his  younger  contemporary, 
Fra  Filippo  Lippi,  did  the  somewhat  frivolous  worldliness  of  the 
Renaissance. 

The  panel  painting  of  Italy  had  few  distinctive  characteristics. 
It  was  practised  but  rarely  by  the  eminent  fresco  painters,  whose 
works  of  this  kind  make  it  evident  that  their  chief  activity  was 
directed  towards  another  branch.  Panel  painting  long  continued 
archaistic,  and  something  of  the  Byzantine  tradition  was  preserved, 
even  by  those  artists  who,  in  mural  painting,  had  more  or  less  eman- 
cipated themselves  from  it.  Cimabue  and  Duccio  di  Buoninsegna 
were  equally  Byzantine  in  their  Madonnas,  while  in  the  frescos  at 
Assisi  the  former  shows  a  far  greater  freedom.  Even  Giotto  was 
unmistakably  archaistic  in  the  Madonna  of  d'Ogni  Santi  in  Florence, 
now  in  the  Academy  of  that  city.  His  small,  almost  miniature-like 
pictures,  however,  such  as  the  panels  of  the  shrine  in  the  sacristy  of 
S.  Croce, — now  separated,  and  preserved  in  the  galleries  of  Berlin 
and  Munich,  and  in  the  Academy  of  Florence, — betray  the  charac- 
ter of  the  former  models  in  enamel  as  little  as  the  frescos  retain 
the  style  of  the  mosaics  which  preceded  them.  All  the  panel  paint- 
ings of  Giotto  show  his  inferiority  in  this  branch  as  compared  to 
fresco ;  this  is  notably  the  case  with  the  Madonna  of  the  Church 
degli  Angeli  near  Bologna,  now  in  the  Brera  of  Milan,  —  the  only 
work  which  bears  his  signature.  The  firm  hold  of  archaism  upon 
panel  painting  is  evident  even  in  the  comparatively  late  Madonna 
of  Bernardo  di  Daddo  in  Orsanmicchele  at  Florence.  This  conven- 
tional character  was  not  entirely  overcome  until  the  rise  of  the 
school  of  Taddeo  Gaddi,  who  himself, — witness  his  altar-pieces  in 
the  Gallery  of  Berlin,  A.  D.  1334,  and  Siena,  A.  D.  1355,  — more 
closely  followed  the  style  of  Giotto's  frescos  than  does  Bernardo  di 
Daddo.  An  exception  is  Orcagna's  altar-piece  in  the  Capella  Strozzi 
of  S.  Maria  Novella,  which  is  but  little  inferior  to  his  frescos. 

Circumstances  were  more  favorable  to  panel  painting  in  Siena 
than  in  Florence.  As  we  have  seen,  Duccio's  fame  was  based  upon 
a  work  of  this  kind,  and  Simone  di  Martino's  large  fresco  in  the 

43 


6/4 


PAINTING   OF   THE   GOTHIC   EPOCH. 


Town-hall  of  Siena,  both  in  arrangement  and  treatment  of  details, 
has  all  the  characteristics  of  an  altar-piece  transferred  to  a  wall. 
That  his  chief  activity  was  in  panel  painting  is  evident  from  records 
and  from  the  works  preserved;  instance  the  large  altar-pieces  of 
Orvieto  and  Pisa,  now  in  the  Opera  del  Duomo  and  in  the  Semina- 
ry of  Pisa,  the  Annunciation  of  the  Cathedral  of  Siena,  now  in  the 
Uffizi  of  Florence,  and  his  portraits,  highly  praised  by  his  contem- 
poraries. His  preference  for  gold  in  the  backgrounds  and  patterned 

garments,  the  greenish  priming 
of  the  flesh  tints,  and  other 
traits,  show  reminiscences  of  the 
Byzantine  methods,  which  were 
retained  also  by  Simone's  broth- 
er-in-law and  assistant,  Lippo 
Memmi.  Even  Pietro  di  Lo- 
renzo (Lorenzetti),  who  is  known 
only  as  a  painter  upon  panels 
from  the  works  existing  in  Siena, 
Florence,  and  Arezzo,  and  who 
appears  to  have  been  the  most 
distinguished  master  of  this 
branch  in  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury, could  not  entirely  free 
himself  from  these  archaistic 
tendencies;  the  same  character 
is  seen  also  in  the  works  of 
Taddeo  di  Bartolo,  a  later  art- 
Fig.  ^.-Madonna,  by  Tommaso  da  Mutina.  ist  °f  tllis  Declining  school,  who 
Belvedere,  Vienna.  worked  late  in  the  fifteenth  cen- 

tury. 

Archaism  is  more  noticeable  in  the  provincial  works,  as,  for  ex- 
ample, in  those  of  the  two  masters  of  Mutina,  Barnaba  and  Tom- 
maso  (Fig.  409),  not  to  speak  of  the  paintings  of  the  early  schools 
of  Venice  and  Murano,  where  Byzantinism  was  conscious  and  inten- 
tional. In  the  fifteenth  century  panel  painting  became  entirely  free 
from  the  old  traditions,  the  works  of  Fra  Giovanni  da  Fiesole,  espe- 
cially, showing  no  trace  of  it.  His  harmonious  nature  could  accept 


ITALY.  675 

no  technical  dualism.  The  delicacy  of  his  numerous  easel-pieces, 
and  their  coloring,  clear  and  cheerful,  though  somewhat  cool,  and  at 
times  too  variegated,  distinctly  betray  his  preference  for  this  branch 
of  painting,  and  even  for  miniature ;  still,  in  composition  and  chiar- 
oscuro, his  style  is  derived  from  fresco.  With  him,  as  with  most 
Italians,  mural  paintings  are  not  mere  enlargements  of  panel  paint- 
ings ;  on  the  contrary,  these  latter  have  rather  the  character  of  min- 
iature-like reductions  of  monumental  works. 

The  art  of  illumination  which  was  so  predominant  in  France, 
was,  in  Italy,  of  even  less  importance  than  panel  painting.  Cele- 
brated names  and  distinguished  works  are  not  altogether  wanting, 
and  the  centres  of  science,  especially  Bologna,  which  had  attained 
an  international  celebrity,  naturally  furthered  the  writing  of  manu- 
scripts. Dante  praises  two  illuminators  of  Bologna,  Oderigi  da 
Gubbio,  who  lived  at  the  same  time  as  Cimabue,  and  Franco,  the 
contemporary  of  Giotto ;  while,  towards  the  middle  of  the  four- 
teenth century,  we  hear  of  the  Camaldolese  monk  Silvestro  in  Flor- 
ence. But  no  works  signed  with  these  names  are  known,  and  the 
codices  of  Nicola  da  Bologna,  referable  to  the  second  half  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  are  of  no  great  importance.  In  the  productions 
of  this  period  the  style  of  Giotto  and  that  of  Siena  are  generally 
combined  with  influences  from  France, — the  energetic  decorative 
coloring  of  the  time  of  Louis  IX.  frequently  appearing. 

Italian  illuminators  were  occasionally  called  to  France,  even  to 
the  court  of  the  Due  de  Berri ;  this  does  not,  however,  imply  their 
artistic  superiority  or  even  equality,  as  it  must  have  been  chiefly 
the  result  of  the  desire  of  the  collectors  for  variety  of  treatment. 
France  had  as  little  need  of  furtherance  from  Italy  in  illumination 
as  in  glass  painting.  Until  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  the 
very  best  Italian  miniatures  were  inferior  in  delicacy  and  beauty  to 
those  of  France  and  the  Netherlands,  while  there  was  little  or  no 
painting  upon  glass  in  Italy.  The  Italians  can  only  be  considered 
as  missionaries  of  art  in  mural  and,  in  some  measure,  in  panel  paint- 
ing, in  which  branches  they  occasionally  displayed  a  brilliant  activ- 
ity in  foreign  countries ;  instance  Simone  di  Martino  in  Avignon, 
Gherardo  Stamina  in  Spain,  Tommaso  da  Mutina  in  Prague,  and 
Masolino  da  Panicale  in  Hungary. 


676  PAINTING   OF   THE   GOTHIC   EPOCH. 

GERMANY.* 

What*  has  been  said  of  the  development  of  German  sculpture 
during  the  Gothic  period  applies,  in  the  main,  to  that  of  painting. 
The  influence  of  France  was  neither  rapid  nor  decisive  in  its  effect. 
The  Romanic  style  predominated  in  the  works  of  the  transitional 
epoch,  and  but  little  change  is  to  be  observed  before  the  middle  of 
the  thirteenth  century.  In  the  Rhenish  countries  French  concep- 
tions were  in  some  measure  introduced  into  sculpture  and  painting 
through  the  erection  of  the  grand  cathedrals  of  Freiburg,  Strasburg, 
and  Cologne ;  but  the  remainder  of  Germany  continued  indepen- 
dent. Still,  the  conventional  Byzantinism,  the  hieratic  stiffness  of 
monastic  art,  which  during  the  Romanic  epoch  had  not  given  way 
before  the  occasional  attempts  at  realism,  were  soon  altogether 
abandoned.  They  were  not,  however,  replaced  by  that  elegant 
idealism  which  was  the  expression  of  the  courtly  and  chivalric 
French  character,  but  by  a  realism  based  upon  the  family  life  of 
the  burghers.  The  painting  of  Germany,  which  in  the  Romanic 
and  transitional  epochs  had  been  entirely  ecclesiastical,  in  the  thir- 
teenth and  fourteenth  centuries  received  the  stamp  of  the  middle 
classes,  as  the  Gothic  painting  of  France  had  that  of  the  knights. 

The  conservatism  of  German  painting  manifested  itself  in  the 
long  retention  of  the  early  Christian,  Carolingian,  and  Romanic 
methods  of  mural  decoration,  of  which  there  was  no  trace  in  the 
French  Gothic.  It  is  true,  the  grand  cathedrals  erected  in  the 
new  French  style  offered  but  little  opportunity  for  wall  painting ; 
but  this  was  provided  by  the  more  extensive  wall  surfaces  of  the 
smaller  churches  and  chapels,  in  which  German  architecture  had 
exhibited  its  full  independence.  Few  examples  remain  from  the 
thirteenth  century,  most  of  the  works  having  been  lost  by  rebuild- 

*  E.  Forster,  Denkmale  der  deutschen  Malerei.  Leipzig,  1855-1869. — J.  J.  Merlo,  Die 
Meister  der  altkolnischen  Malerschule.  Koln,  1852. — L.  A.  Schreiber,  Die  hervorragend- 
sten  anonymen  Meister  und  Werke  der  Kolner  Malerschule  von  1460  bis  1500.  Bonn, 
1880. — E.  aus'm  Weerth,  Wandmalereien  des  Mittelalters  in  den  Rheinlanden.  Leipzig, 
no  date. — C.  Schnaase,  Geschichte  der  bildenden  Kttnste  im  Mittelalter.  Second  edition, 
Vols.  IV.  and  VI. — A.  Woltmann  und  A.  Woermann,  Geschichte  der  Malerei.  Leipzig, 
1879,  1880. 


GERMANY. 

ing,  or  by  whitewashing  the  walls,  or  through  wilful  destruction  and 
the  effects  of  time.  The  series  of  kings  in  the  choir  of  the  Church 
of  Brauweiler  on  the  Rhine,  and  the  paintings  of  Rebdorf  in  Bava- 
ria, now  transferred  in  thirteen  panels  to  the  National  Museum  of 
Munich,  suffice,  nevertheless,  to  show  the  continuance  of  Romanic 
methods. 

In  the  fourteenth  century  two  widely  different  conceptions  pre- 
vailed.    In  the  Rhenish  countries  there  was  a  style  unmistakably 


Fig.  410. — Wall  Painting  of  the  Church  of  the  German  Knights  at  Ramersdorf. 

derived  from  French  miniature  and  glass  paintings.  This  is  evident 
in  the  decoration  of  the  walls  and  ceiling  of  the  Church  of  the 
German  Knights  at  Ramersdorf  (Fig.  410),  which,  by  the  removal 
of  the  church  to  the  cemetery  of  Bonn,  have  unfortunately  been 
destroyed,  and  are  only  known  through  the  excellent  publication 
of  E.  aus'm  Weerth.  It  appears  also  in  churches  on  the  Upper 
Rhine  and  Western  Switzerland,  at  Gebweiler,  Rosenweiler,  and 
Weissenburg  in  Alsace,  in  the  crypt  of  the  Minster  of  Basle,  etc. 
The  graceful  attitudes,  the  long  and  flowing  draperies,  the  senti- 


678  PAINTING   OF   THE   GOTHIC   EPOCH. 

mental  inclination  of  the  heads,  and  the  somewhat  affected  expres- 
sion, clearly  betray  the  influence  of  France.  This  style  of  painting 
was  most  successfully  practised  in  Cologne,  where  legendary  repre- 
sentations from  the  lives  of  St.  Peter  and  Pope  Sylvester  have  been 
preserved  on  the  choir  screen  of  the  Cathedral,  dating  from  the  first 
half  of  the  fourteenth  century.  In  the  last  half  of  the  same  century 
the  name  of  an  artist  appears,  William  of  Cologne,  who  executed 
mural  paintings  in  St.  Cunibert,  in  the  New  Hall,  and  in  the  Town- 
hall.  He  is  probably  identical  with  the  Master  William  mentioned 
in  the  Chronicle  of  Limburg,  of  the  year  1380,  as  the  best  portrait- 
painter  of  Christendom,  possibly  also  with  the  William  of  Herle 
near  Limburg,  whose  name  occurs  in  the  official  records  of  Cologne 
between  1358  and  1378.  No  specimens  of  his  art  can  be  positively 
authenticated,  but,  judging  from  the  general  character  of  the  paint- 
ings of  this  time,  it  may  be  assumed  that  he  also  followed,  more  or 
less  closely,  the  French  methods. 

In  the  German  provinces  more  remote  from  the  influence  of 
France  the  productions  were  essentially  different.  Among  these 
the  extensive  paintings  in  the  Church  of  Oberwinterthur  in  Switz- 
erland are  as  important  examples  of  the  art  of  their  time  as  are 
those  in  Oberzell  of  that  of  the  Romanic  epoch.  The  series  of 
pictures  which  once  covered  the  walls  of  the  nave,  illustrating  the 
youth  of  Christ  and  the  legend  of  St.  Arbogast,  show  few  of  the 
limitations  of  the  preceding  period,  but  the  greater  freedom  is  not 
accompanied  by  any  corresponding  progress  in  artistic  respects. 
The  mural  paintings  in  the  Church  of  St.  Afra  at  Schelklingen  in 
Wurtemberg,  which  have  but  lately  been  discovered,  are  still  more 
inferior  (Fig.  411).  The  naive  dilettantism  of  the  contemporary 
German  miniatures  is  here  seen  free  from  all  French  refinements. 
The  compositions  are  rude  and  awkward,  but  vivid  and  original, 
the  sound  observation  of  nature  evident  in  them  being  far  more 
pleasing  than  the  debased  conventionalism  of  the  former  hieratic 
style.  The  rigid  dignity  of  the  earlier  works  is  entirely  lost,  but 
this  is  outweighed  by  the  straightforward  and  good-natured  sim- 
plicity. 

That  this  rudeness  was  not  merely  intended  to  engage  the  atten- 
tion of  the  common  people  in  country  churches  is  proved  by  the 


GERMANY. 


679 


contemporary  representations  of  secular  and  poetical  subjects,  which 
were  as  much  in  vogue  in  the  castles  of  Germany  as  in  those  of 
England.  The  most  interesting  of  such  scenes  from  the  poets 
would  be  those  in  the  Castle  of  Runkelstein,  near  Botzen  in  the 
Tyrol,  were  it  not  for  their  bad  state  of  preservation.  This  series 
is  of  the  greatest  variety,  not  only  in  the  groups  of  classic,  Jewish, 
and  Christian  heroes  and  lovers,  but  in  the  romantic  scenes  from 
Tristan,  Garel,  etc.  Similar  paintings  are  also  to  be  seen  in  the 
Ehinger  Hof  of  Ulm. 

In  view  of  such  works  as  these,  it  is  not  strange  that  the  culti- 
vated Emperor  Charles  IV., — who  had  been  educated  at  the  French 


Fig.  411.— The  Adoration  of  the  Magi.     Wall  Painting  in  the  Choir  of  the  Church  of 
St.  Afra,  Schelklingen,  Wurtemberg. 

court,  and  had  married  the  sister  of  King  Philip  VI.,  Blanche  of  Val- 
Ojs? — could  not  be  altogether  satisfied  with  an  art  so  unskilled.  It 
is  characteristic  of  his  cultured  taste,  and  of  the  circumstances  of 
the  time,  that  for  the  monumental  paintings  of  his  buildings,  erected 
by  French  architects,  he  called  artists  from  Italy  rather  than  from 
France.  The  large  mosaic  of  the  portal  of  the  southern  transept  of 
the  Cathedral  at  Prague,  referable  to  the  year  1371,  seems  to  be  of 
Venetian  workmanship.  Tommaso  da  Mutina  was  doubtless  also 
intrusted  with  monumental  tasks,  although  the  only  authenticated 
works  by  his  hand  are  panel  paintings  (Fig.  409)-  His  influence  is 
recognizable  in  the  Giottesque  mural  decorations  of  the  Chapel  of 


68o 


PAINTING  OF   THE   GOTHIC   EPOCH. 


St.  Catherine  at  Karlstein,  and  in  those  of  the  Cloister  of  Emaus. 
Charles  IV.,  however,  seems  himself  to  have  ascertained  that  his 
choice  was  not  altogether  satisfactory,  as  he  turned  his  attention 
from  Italy  to  Strasburg,  in  which  town  there  flourished,  until  late 
into  the  fifteenth  century,  an  eminently  successful  school  of  mural 
painting.  Thus  Nicolaus,  called  Wurmser,  of  Strasburg,  to  whom 
the  paintings  in  the  Church  of  the  Virgin  at  Prague  are,  without 
doubt,  referable,  entirely  supplanted  the  influence  of  the  Giottesque 
Italian  art  in  Bohemia. 

After  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century  mural  paintings  became 
more  and  more  rare.     The  small  number  of  the  works  of  this  kind 


Fig.  412. — The  Dance  of  Death.     Scene  from  the  Mural  Paintings  in 
the  Church  of  the  Virgin,  Berlin. 

which  have  been  preserved,  and  the  entire  lack  of  contemporary 
description,  render  it  impossible  to  judge  of  their  artistic  merit. 
It  appears  that  in  extent  and  style  they  corresponded  to  the  panel 
paintings  of  the  period,  from  which  they  can  have  differed  only  in 
greater  rudeness  and  hastiness  of  execution.  In  those  districts 
where  brick  architecture  was  universal  the  stuccoed  surfaces  of  the 
walls  gave  opportunity  for  more  extensive  representations  in  color, 
and  even  for  cyclical  scenes  with  many  figures,  such  as  the  Dance 
of  Death  in  the  Church  of  the  Virgin  at  Berlin  (Fig.  412). 

As  the  demand  for  mural  decoration  decreased,  that  for  stained 


GERMANY.  68 1 

glass  increased.  Until  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century  Romanic 
features  were  retained  in  this  branch  of  art,  especially  in  the  orna- 
mental portions.  The  combination  of  those  elements  with  others 
derived  from  the  works  of  the  early  French  Gothic,  particularly 
those  of  Chartres  and  Bourges,  admits  of  no  doubt  concerning  the 
dependence  of  Germany  upon  French  models.  In  the  fourteenth 
century,  however,  the  Germans  surpassed  their  neighbors  even  in 
glass  painting.  The  progress  was  first  shown  in  the  consequential 
employment  of  Gothic  architectural  details ;  a  truly  pictorial  effect 
of  perspective  and  of  light  and  shade  was  not  attempted,  regard 
being  paid  rather  to  the  flat  and  tapestry -like  character  befitting 
painted  windows.  The  new  system  was  in  marked  contrast  to  that 
previously  obtaining,  in  which  the  windows  had  been  divided  into 
circular,  almond-shaped,  and  segmental  compartments.  It  appears 
in  great  perfection  in  the  cathedrals  of  Strasburg,  Freiburg,  and 
Cologne,  and  in  numerous  ecclesiastical  edifices  of  the  fourteenth 
century  (Fig.  413).  The  superiority  of  German  productions  does  not 
consist  merely  in  the  architectural  memberment,  but  in  the  greatly 
improved  coloring.  This  resulted  particularly  from  the  extended 
use  of  white  and  yellow,  which  had  been  too  scantily  employed  by 
the  French,  the  superabundance  of  red,  deep -blue,  and  purple  in 
their  works  being  often  offensive.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Germans 
sometimes  made  the  contrary  mistake  of  favoring  broken  tones  in 
order  to  attain  an  effect  of  chiaroscuro,  which  in  glass  painting  is 
as  inadmissible  as  a  perspective  treatment.  The  mosaic  and  tapes- 
try-like character  is  seen  at  its  best  when  the  composition  is  made 
up  of  details  so  small  that  the  beholder  from  a  distance  has  only 
the  impression  of  harmoniously  blended  colors  without  distinguish- 
ing objects ;  the  ecclesiastical  effect  is  as  little  impaired  by  this  in- 
distinctness as  it  is  by  the  failure  to  understand  the  words  of  a  cho- 
ral. The  finest  productions  of  this  kind  are  the  windows  in  the  choir 
of  the  Cathedral  of  Ratisbon,  a  minute  study  of  which  might  have 
prevented  many  an  error  in  the  glass  painting  of  the  present  cen- 
tury,—notably  that  of  attempting  the  representation  of  subjects  of 
great  extent. 

Textile  industry,  especially  embroidery,  continued   of    subordi- 
nate  importance.     Tapestries   intended   for   dorsels,  coverings   for 


682 


PAINTING   OF   THE   GOTHIC   EPOCH. 


seats,  canopies,  etc.',  were  made  for  the  dwellings  of  nobles  rather 
than  for  the  churches,  and  represented  amorous  subjects  for  the 
chambers  of  the  women,  hunting  scenes  for  the  other  rooms.  Em- 
broidered garments  were  chiefly  employed  for  liturgical  purposes, 
as  priestly  robes,  etc.  In  all  these,  and  in  the  embroidered  altar 
hangings  and  screens,  the  style  remained,  until  the  end  of  the  four- 
teenth century,  the  same  as  in  the  Romanic  period :  a  greater  or 


Fig.  413. — Glass  Paintings  from  Konigsfelden,  Switzerland. 

less  degree  of  dilettantism  in  treatment  and  subject  being  combined 
with  Arabian,  or  rather  Sicilian,  methods  and  forms.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  the  works  of  Germany  in  this  branch  ever  equalled  those 
produced  in  the  Netherlands  after  the  Burgundian  supremacy.  The 
dorsels  were  at  times  merely  painted  in  tempera  colors  upon  can- 
vas, while  the  hangings  of  the  lower  walls  were  imitated  in  mural 
paintings. 


GERMANY. 


683 


The  panel  painting  of  Germany  did  not  attain  to  a  more  exten- 
sive employment,  and  to  a  higher  artistic  importance,  until  a  com- 
paratively late  period.  Even  after  the  superfrontalia  had  become 
of  greater  prominence  than  the  chalice  shrines  and  the  bases  of 
reliquaries,  the  ornaments  of  the  altar  were  commonly  sculptured, 
painted  altar-pieces  being  rare  in  the  Romanic  epoch.  The  few 
German  panel  paintings  dating  from  the  first  half  of  the  fourteenth 
century  are  extremely  archaic,  the  figures  being  lean  and  ascetic : 
instance  the  earliest  pictures  of  the  school  of  Cologne,  preserved  in 


Fig.  414. — Early  Cologne  Triptych.     Museum  of  Cologne. 

the  Richartz-Wallraf  Museum  of  that  city  (Fig.  414).  Although  in 
the  positions  and  draperies  some  concessions  were  made  to  the 
ideals  of  the  Gothic  style,  they  followed  in  the  main  Byzantine  and 
Romanic  types.  Cyclical  representations  do  not  appear  before  the 
middle  of  the  fourteenth  century,  at  which  time  the  Emperor  Charles 
IV.  established  a  school  of  panel  painting  in  Prague.  The  employ- 
ment of  Italian,  French,  and  German  artists  side  by  side  in  the  Bo- 
hemian capital  naturally  exercised  great  influence  upon  this  branch; 
still,  it  cannot  be  asserted  that  the  combination  of  elements  so  dis- 


684 


PAINTING    OF   THE   GOTHIC   EPOCH. 


similar  was  altogether  advantageous  to  the  art  of  Prague.  Charles 
IV.  did  not  succeed,  like  the  Burgundian  dukes,  in  attracting  to  his 
court  the  best  masters  of  the  time ;  and,  moreover,  Tommaso  da 
Mutina  and  Nicolas  of  Strasburg  seem  to  have  devoted  but  little 
attention  to  panel  painting.  The  chief  representative  of  the  school 
of  Prague  is  Master  Dietrich,  to  whom  are  ascribed  the  pictures  in 
the  Chapel  of  the  Holy  Cross  at  Karlstein,  showing  one  hundred 
and  thirty-three  half-figures  of  saints,  in  two  and  three  rows,  one 
above  another,  upon  backgrounds  patterned  in  gold.  Although  the 

forms  are  heavy  and  rude,  the  heads 
and  gestures  are  expressive  and 
characteristic.  The  entire  lack  of 
courtly  elegance  renders  any  influ- 
ence of  France  improbable,  the  con- 
ception being  more  akin  to  that  of 
the  art  of  Northern  Germany. 

A  striking  contrast  to  these 
works  is  presented  by  those  of  Co- 
logne, referable  to  the  second  half 
of  the  fourteenth  century.  The  ad- 
vance in  mural  decoration,  made  in 
the  Rhenish  provinces  in  the  time 
of  Master  William,  was  followed  by 

Fig- 415-— The  Presentation  in  the  Tem-     a  corresponding   progress   in   panel 
Panel  Painting  of  Cologne,  dat-     paintjng>     Eyen  ear]y  and  immature 

works  of  this  period  (Fig.  415)  differ 
essentially  from  those  of  Dietrich 
of  Prague,  which  are  characterized  by  rawboned  and  heavy  forms. 
Towards  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century,  however,  the  figures 
became  even  more  delicate,  small,  slender,  and  boneless,  with  narrow 
hips.  Strong  and  masculine  features  were  prevalent  in  the  style  of 
Bohemia;  feminine  and  nun-like  in  that  of  Cologne.  It  was  doubt- 
less the  type  of  the  patrician  maiden,  in  the  town  of  St.  Ursula  and 
her  ten  thousand  virgins,  which  inspired  the  artists  to  paint  heads 
with  fair  hair  and  large  foreheads,  with  modest,  half-closed  eyes,  deli- 
cate noses,  and  pretty  lips;  while  the  young  men  of  refined  society 
served  as  models  for  the  almost  puerile  figures  of  such  knightly 


pie. 

ing  from  the  middle  of  the  Fourteenth 

Century.     Museum  of  Cologne. 


GERMANY.  685 

saints  as  Gereon  and  Maurice.  With  all  its  lack  of  strength,  its 
exaggeration,  and  even  mannerism,  this  type  of  Cologne  is  scarcely 
less  attractive  than  is  that  which  similarly  appears  in  the  art  of  Siena. 
The  master  of  delicate  sentiment  to  whom  the  altar  of  St.  Clara  in 
the  Cathedral  of  Cologne  is  to  be  ascribed  may  be  compared  to 
Duccio ;  and  there  is  an  unmistakable  resemblance  between  Simone 
di  Martino  and  the  artist  of  St.  Veronica,  in  the  Pinakothek  of  Mu- 
nich, of  the  Madonna  with  the  bean-blossom,  in  the  Germanic  Mu- 
seum of  Nuremberg,  and  that  of  the  Wallraf  Museum  of  Cologne 
(Fig.  398),  who  has  been  identified,  upon  insufficient  grounds,  with 
the  Master  William  of  the  Chronicle  of  Limburg.  This  likeness 
does  not  extend  to  the  coloring.  The  paintings  of  Cologne  are  in 
nowise  connected  with  mural  decoration,  but  rather  show  a  depend- 
ence upon  stained  glass  in  the  selection  and  the  transparency  of  the 
colors;  sometimes  even  in  the  arrangement  of  the  composition,  as 
in  the  Heisterbach  Altar,  in  Munich. 

A  high  degree  of  uniformity  and  affectation  would  inevitably 
have  resulted,  had  not  the  realistic  and  individual  style  of  the  Neth- 
erlands exercised  an  invigorating  influence  upon  that  of  Cologne. 
Traces  of  this  influence  are  unmistakable  in  the  famous  altar-piece 
in  the  Cathedral  of  Cologne,  which  was  painted  between  1430  and 
1440  for  the  chapel  of  the  Town -hall,  and  marks  the  highest  per- 
fection attained  by  this  school  in  the  Middle  Ages.  This  celebrated 
triptych,  representing  the  Adoration  of  the  Magi,  was  admired  by 
Albert  Diirer,  and  it  is  through  an  entry  in  his  journal  that  the 
name  of  the  artist  is  known, — Master  Stephen,  probably  Stephen 
Lochner  of  Constance,  who  died  in  1451  as  a  magistrate  of  Cologne. 
The  master  adhered  to  the  traditions  of  the  school  in  the  ideal  type 
of  the  Madonna  and  in  the  gold  background  ,  but  something  of  the 
Flemish  fineness  of  execution  is  evident  in  the  male  figures,  in  the 
costumes  and  details,  while,  in  technical  respects,  the  new  method 
and  the  coloring  of  the  brothers  Van  Eyck  is  adopted  without  re- 
serve. The  influence  of  the  Netherlands  is  less  prominent  in  such 
works  as  the  beautiful  Madonna  in  the  Rose  Garden  (Fig.  416),  where 
the  Virgin  is  surrounded  only  by  angels, — without  the  retinue  of 
saints,  the  treatment  of  whose  figures  required  greater  realism.  In 
works  of  this  kind,  where  the  subject  is  so  entirely  in  harmony  with 


686 


PAINTING   OF   THE   GOTHIC   EPOCH. 


the  character  of  the  art  of  Cologne,  the  limitations  of  the  school  are 
less  manifest.  They  are,  however,  fully  felt  in  a  Last  Judgment  in 
the  same  museum,  which  should  be  ascribed  to  an  artist  closely  con- 
nected with  Master  Stephen.  This  picture  contrasts  most  unfavor- 
ably with  the  compositions  of  Van  Eyck. 

It  was  only  after  the  influence  of  the  Netherlands  had  become 


Fig.  416. — The  Madonna  in  the  Rose  Garden.     Panel  Painting  of  Master  Stephen  in  the 

Museum  of  Cologne. 

more  prevalent  that  the  artists  of  Cologne  could  successfully  under- 
take the  representation  of  legends  while  preserving  in  some  measure 
their  ideal  tendencies.  The  advance  is  first  evident  in  the  cyclical 
scenes  from  the  life  of  the  Virgin,  in  the  Pinakothek  of  Munich, 
without  doubt  the  best  production  of  the  so-called  master  of  the 


GERMANY.  68/ 

Lyversberg  Passion.  The  Rhenish  countries  at  this  time  seem  to 
have  been  influenced  by  Dutch  rather  than  Flemish  art,  the  meth- 
ods of  the  Master  of  Lyversberg  showing  greater  resemblance  to 
those  of  Dierick  Bouts  than  to  those  of  Van  Eyck  and  Rogier.  This 
applies  also  to  the  other  Rhenish  and  Westphalian  masters,  whose 
names  are  not  known,  but  who  are  designated  by  the  subjects  of 
their  chief  pictures,  or  by  the  places  where  these  were  found.  Among 
them  are  the  Master  of  Liesborn,  whose  chief  work  is  in  the  Nation- 
al Gallery  of  London;  the  Master  of  the  Holy  Companionship,  of  St. 
Severinus,  of  St.  Bartholomew,  and  others.  Their  principal  produc- 
tions are  to  be  seen  in  Cologne  and  Munich.  Although  they  all  be- 
tray the  training  of  Cologne,  they  so  differ  one  from  the  other  that 
the  artistic  individuality  of  each  admits  of  no  doubt.  Some  of  these 
works  may  be  as  late  as  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  but, 
until  the  beautiful  productions  of  the  master  of  the  Death  of  the 
Virgin,  none  can  be  attributed  to  the  period  of  the  Renaissance. 

The  school  of  Franconia,  notably  that  of  Nuremberg,  occupies 
the  third  place  in  the  history  of  German  panel  painting.  The  chief 
altar-piece  of  the  Church  of  Our  Lady  of  Nuremberg,  now  placed 
above  the  left  side  altar,  apparently  dates  from  the  time  of  the  com- 
pletion of  the  building  itself,  that  is  to  say,  from  the  end  of  the 
fourteenth  century.  It  is  a  fine  triptych  with  patterned  gold  ground, 
and  figures  of  saints  in  either  wing,  and  displays  the  rude  and  vigor- 
ous style  of  the  Bohemian  school,  founded  by  Charles  IV.,  fully  as 
much  as  it  does  Rhenish  methods.  Indeed,  all  the  paintings  of 
Southern  Germany,  referable  to  the  first  years  of  the  fifteenth  centu- 
ry, hold  a  middle  place  between  the  somewhat  coarse  characteriza- 
tion of  the  art  of  Prague  and  the  sentimental  idealism  of  that  of 
Cologne.  Among  the  most  important  of  them  is  the  Imhof  Altar  in 
the  Church  of  St.  Laurence  at  Nuremberg,  the  middle  picture  of 
which  is  a  Coronation  of  the  Virgin.  This  work  seems,  from  the 
heraldic  devices,  to  have  been  painted  shortly  before  1422.  In  it, 
as  in  the  triptych  in  the  Church  of  Our  Lady,  there  is  but  slight  evi- 
dence of  the  influence  of  stained  glass  upon  the  coloring,  so  notice- 
able in  Cologne;  the  pigments  are  dark  and  of  a  brownish  tone. 
The  forms,  on  the  other  hand,  have  gained  in  grace  and  beauty. 
There  are  but  few  indications  of  those  wrinkled  and  angular  folds 


PAINTING   OF   THE   GOTHIC    EPOCH. 

of  the  garments  which  are  so  characteristic  of  the  art  of  Nuremberg 
after  the  fifteenth  century ;  the  draperies,  though  flowing,  have 
something  the  appearance  of  sheet -metal,  like  those  of  Cologne, 
from  which  latter  the  works  of  Franconia  differ  chiefly  in  a  cer- 
tain rudeness  and  harshness,  and  in  a  preference  for  rawboned  and 
almost  vulgar  figures.  After  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century 
the  forms  in  the  paintings  of  Nuremberg  gradually  became  more 
noble,  as  is  evident,  for  instance,  in  the  picture  above  the  tomb  of 
Margaretha  Imhof(d.  1449),  in  the  Church  of  St.  Laurence,  which  is 
still  closely  related  to  the  Imhof  Altar.  It  is  doubtful  whether  the 
artist  modelled  his  work  upon  the  paintings  of  Cologne  or  those  of 
the  Netherlands.  It  would  be  more  natural  to  assume  the  influ- 
ence of  the  former  than  of  the  latter,  as  the  journeymen  of  the 
Painters'  Guild,  through  their  wanderings,  were  more  frequently 
brought  into  contact  with  the  artists  of  the  Rhenish  countries  than 
with  those  of  Flanders. 

The  name  of  only  one  artist  of  this  period  is  known,  Hans  Pley- 
denwurff  (d.  1472).  His  renown  early  extended  beyond  the  limits 
of  his  native  province ;  in  1462  he  received  the  order  to  paint  an 
altar-piece  for  the  Church  of  St.  Elisabeth  at  Breslau,  which  unfort- 
unately no  longer  exists.  It  appears  impossible  to  ascribe  to  him 
the  picture  above  the  tomb  of  Margaretha  Imhof,  but  it  is  not  im- 
probable that  some  of  his  works  are  among  the  numerous  paintings 
generally  ascribed  to  Michael  Wolgemut.  This  latter  artist,  A.  D. 
1434  to  1519,  is  to  be  considered  as  the  chief  representative  of  the 
school  of  Pleydenwurff,  whose  widow  he  married  in  1473.  He 
worked  together  with  his  step -son  William,  and  continued  the 
methods  of  his  predecessor. 

In  the  school  of  Pleydenwurff  and  Wolgemut  was  developed 
the  strong  and  marked  style  already  referred  to  as  resulting  from 
the  influence  of  the  wood-carvings  of  Franconia,  and  as  being  par- 
ticularly noticeable  in  the  wrinkled  and  puffed  draperies.  The  bony 
and  angular  forms,  the  entire  lack  of  feeling  for  beauty,  the  hard 
lines  of  the  heads,  hands,  and  feet,  which  had  prevailed  in  the  art 
of  Nuremberg  in  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century,  still  con- 
tinued, but  there  was  a  decided  advance  in  characterization,  indi- 
viduality, expression,  and,  especially,  in  coloring.  This  style  is  so 


GERMANY.  689 

pronounced,  even  in  the  earliest  dated  works  of  Wolgemut,— the 
four  panels  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity  at  Hof,  A.  D.  1465, 
now  in  the  Pinakothek  of  Munich  (Fig.  417),— that  it  must  have 
been  adopted  by  him  from  Pleydenwurff.  Hans  Traut,  the  third 
great  painter  of  Nuremberg  in  the  second  half  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, evidently  had  the 

same  training.    The  only    '&-—-"r-     :  -^rje^fgrw^ugyi 

work  which  can  with  cer- 
tainty be  attributed  to 
him  is  a  drawing  of  St. 
Sebastian,  now  in  the  col- 
lection of  the  University 
of  Erlangen.  It  must  be 
acknowledged  that  Wol- 
gemut, whose  talent  was 
greater  than  that  of  his 
contemporaries,  in  some 
measure  freed  himself 
from  the  mechanical  art 
of  his  time,  as  is  evident 
from  the  Peringsdoerffer 
Altar  in  the  Church  of 
the  Augustines  at  Nu- 
remberg, now  in  the  Ger- 
manic Museum  of  that 
city.  In  the  ordinary 
pictures  of  his  school, 
however,  the  work  of  his 
hand  is  not  always  to  be 
distinguished  from  that 
of  the  Pleydenwurffs,  fa- 


Fig.  417. — The  Crucifixion.     Panel  Painting  by  Wolge- 
mut, for  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity  at  Hof. 


ther  and  son,  especially  as  he,  like  his  predecessor,  had  a  great  num- 
ber of  assistants,  whose  help  was  rendered  necessary  by  the  extent 
of  the  altar-pieces,  instance  that  of  Zwickau:  his  name  thus  being  of- 
ten nothing  more  than  the  stamp  of  the  firm.  This  is  the  case  with 
the  high-altar  of  the  parish  church  of  Schwabach,  completed  in  1568, 
which  is  recorded  as  his,  but  shows  very  little  of  his  own  work. 

44 


690  PAINTING   OF   THE   GOTHIC   EPOCH. 

The  common  assumption,  that  Nuremberg  was  considerably 
influenced  by  the  Netherlands,  appears  unwarranted.  Wolgemut, 
it  is  true,  was  acquainted  with  the  methods  of  oil-painting,  and  a 
certain  degree  of  intercourse,  through  journeymen,  with  the  Rhen- 
ish countries  must  have  led  to  the  adoption  of  many  Dutch  in- 
novations. But  this  influence  was  not  direct,  and  was  of  much 
less  importance  than  in  Suabia.  It  is  hence  futile  to  inquire  from 
which  particular  school  of  the  Netherlands  it  may  have  proceeded. 

The  panel  painting  of  Suabia  was  not,  like  that  of  Nuremberg, 
the  monopoly  of  a  single  school.  In  the  fourteenth  century  it  was 
but  little  practised,  and  in  the  fifteenth  was  almost  entirely  restrict- 
ed to  the  altar-pieces,  which,  in  their  combination  of  painting  and 
wood-carving,  provided  the  principal  employment  for  the  artists  of 
that  time.  The  name  of  Lucas  Moser,  of  Stadt  Weil  in  Wurtemberg, 
is  attached  to  the  altar-piece  of  St.  Magdalen  in  the  Church  of 
Tiefenbronn  near  Pforzheim,  which  was  executed  at  least  as  early 
as  1431.  The  series  of  representations  from  the  lives  of  the  Mag- 
dalen and  Lazarus  show  no  Flemish  influence ;  this  applies  also  to 
the  Staufenberg  Altar  in  the  Museum  of  Colmar,  which  cannot  be 
earlier  than  1450,  and  in  awkwardness  and  want  of  artistic  merit 
differs  little  from  the  work  of  Moser.  Certain  influences  of  the 
Lower  Rhine  are  noticeable  in  the  pictures  which  once  formed  the 
altar-piece  of  the  Church  of  St.  Martin  at  Colmar,  painted  after  1462 
by  Caspar  Isenmann  of  Colmar, — if  indeed  the  seven  panels  with 
scenes  from  the  Passion,  dated  1465,  in  the  museum  of  that  town, 
are  to  be  considered  as  belonging  to  this  work. 

The  direct  influence  of  the  Lower  Rhine  and  of  Brabant  first 
appears  in  another  master  of  Colmar,  Martin  Schongauer,  who  was 
of  an  Augsburg  family,  and  died  in  the  prime  of  life  at  Colmar, 
A.  D.  1488.  There  is  no  better  authority  than  Vasari  for  stating 
that  he  was  a  pupil  of  Rogier,  but  it  is  certain  that  his  style  is  re- 
lated to  that  of  the  school  of  Brabant.  Of  this,  however,  he  was 
far  more  independent  than  his  contemporary,  Friedrich  Herlin  of 
Noerdlingen,  as  he  exhibited  also  some  characteristics  of  the  school 
of  Cologne.  These  latter  appear  in  the  beautiful  Madonna  in  the 
Rose  Garden,  A.  D.  1473,  in  the  sacristy  of  S.  Martin  at  Colmar, 
which,  with  great  probability,  though  not  with  absolute  certainty, 


GERMANY.  691 

is  ascribed  to  Schongauer.  None  of  the  panel  paintings  of  Schon- 
gauer,  however,  are  fully  authenticated  ;  thus,  he  must  be  judged 
chiefly  by  his  signed  engravings,  which  will  subsequently  be  referred 
to.  It  must  suffice  to  observe,  in  this  connection,  that  in  careful- 
ness of  design  and  execution,  in  correctness  of  drawing  and  of  com- 
position, he  surpassed  all  his  contemporaries. 

There  were  no  close  relations  between  the  school  of  Ulm  and 
that  of  Colmar.  In  the  year  1469,  when  Hans  Schuechlin  of  Ulm 
completed  the  paintings  of  the  high -altar  at  Tiefenbronn,  Schon- 
gauer was  very  young,  perhaps  still  a  journeyman ;  if,  therefore, 
any  connection  be  assumed,  it  must  rather  have  existed  between 
Hans  Schuechlin  and  Lucas  Moser  of  Weil.  The  style  of  Schuech- 
lin, and  that  of  his  talented  pupil,  Bartholomew  Zeitblom  of  Ulm, 
who  worked  between  1484  and  1517,  differs  more  from  that  of  the 
Netherlands,  being  simpler  and  more  essentially  German  than  that 
of  the  cosmopolitan  Schongauer.  The  quiet  and  serious  dignity  of 
the  figures  of  Zeitblom,  and  especially  of  the  feminine  heads,  their 
expression  of  sincere  piety  and  unapproachable  matronly  chastity, 
render  his  works  the  noblest  creations  of  contemporary  German  art. 
These  characteristics  are  seen  in  the  altar-piece  of  Hausen,  dating 
from  1488,  and  in  the  altar  of  the  Church  of  Heerberge,  signed  1497, 
both  in  the  collection  of  antiquities  at  Stuttgart ;  further,  in  two 
female  saints  on  the  panels  of  a  triptych  in  the  Pinakothek  of  Mu- 
nich. The  artist,  however,  was  only  able  to  represent  attitudes  of 
repose :  in  dramatic  scenes,  such  as  those  of  St.  Valentin  at  Augs- 
burg (Fig.  418),  he  is  rigid  and  lifeless. 

From  its  centre  at  Ulm,  Suabian  art  extended  to  different  direc- 
tions. One  branch  is  found  in  Eastern  Suabia,  especially  in  Mem- 
mingen,  where  we  meet  with  Bernhard  Strigel,  a  master  of  great 
ability  and  productiveness,  though  occasionally  somewhat  mechan- 
ical. A  number  of  his  works  have  lately  been  identified  by  W.  Bode 
and  R.  Vischer.  Towards  the  east  the  school  of  Ulm  was  extended 
to  Augsburg.  The  paintings  executed  in  this  town  before  the  end 
of  the  fifteenth  century  had  been  of  but  little  merit :  instance  the 
ceiling  of  the  Guildhall  of  the  Weavers,  referable  to  Peter  Kaltenhof, 
now  in  the  National  Museum  of  Munich,  and  the  representation  of 
Christ  between  the  two  Thieves,  dating  from  1477,  now  in  the  Gal- 


692 


PAINTING   OF   THE   GOTHIC   EPOCH. 


lery  of  Augsburg.  There  was  no  master  of  great  ability  before 
Hans  Holbein  the  elder,  whose  earliest  known  work  is  the  Weingar- 
ten  Altar,  painted  after  1493,  fragments  of  which  are  preserved  in 


Fig.  418. — St.  Valentin  before  the  Emperor.     Panel  Painting  by  B.  Zeitblom  in  the 

Gallery  of  Augsburg. 

the  Cathedral  of  Augsburg.    From  this,  from  the  altar  of  Kaisheim, 
dated  1502,  in  the  Pinakothek  of  Munich,  from  the  basilica  pictures 


GERMANY.  693 

of  1499  and  I5°4  in  Augsburg,  and  from  various  others  in  that  town 
and  in  Nuremberg  and  Schleissheim,  we  become  acquainted  with  a 
master  as  representative  of  the  school  of  Augsburg  as  was  the 
somewhat  older  Wolgemut  of  that  of  Franconia.  Holbein,  though 
possessing  a  higher  sense  of  beauty  and  grace  of  form,  and  giving 
to  his  heads  a  character  of  great  individuality,  amounting  at  times 
even  to  a  humorous  caricature,  did  not  so  readily  obtain  recogni- 
tion and  pecuniary  success  as  Wolgemut,  and  struggled,  with  un- 
favorable circumstances,  until  his  death,  in  1524,  notwithstanding 
the  frequent  assistance  rendered  him  by  his  brother  Sigmund  and 
by  his  son.  In  one  respect,  however,  Holbein  and  Wolgemut  were 
alike,  each  having  the  good- fortune  to  be  the  first  instructor  of 
one  of  the  two  greatest  artists  of  the  German  renaissance :  Wol- 
gemut of  Albert  Durer, —  Holbein  of  his  son,  Hans  Holbein  the 
younger. 

Holding  a  middle  place  between  the  schools  of  Suabia  and 
Franconia,  we  find  a  master  who  imitated  the  methods  of  the 
Netherlands  in  a  greater  degree,  and,  as  it  appears,  at  an  earlier 
date  than  any  of  his  German  contemporaries.  This  was  Friedrich 
Herlin  of  Noerdlingen.  It  is  not  definitely  known  whether  he  is 
to  be  identified  with  the  painter  Herlin,  mentioned  in  the  chron- 
icles of  Ulm  about  the  year  1450,  but  it  is  certain  that  his  style 
has  but  little  in  common  with  that  of  Schuechlin  and  Zeitblom. 
Nor  does  he  seem  to  have  been  at  all  dependent  upon  Schongauer, 
as  he  was  older,  and  consequently  had  received  his  training  at  an 
earlier  period.  The  high -altar  of  the  Church  of  St.  George  at 
Noerdlingen  of  1462  may  almost  with  absolute  certainty  be  attrib- 
uted to  him,  while  that  of  the  Church  of  St.  James  at  Rothenburg 
on  the  Tauber,  dated  1466,  is  signed  with  his  name.  In  the  year  of 
Schongauer's  death,  A.  D.  1488,  Herlin  painted  the  triptych  dedi- 
cated by  himself,  the  centre  picture  being  a  Madonna.  Many  of 
the  types  in  this  work  are  so  closely  imitated  from  those  of  Rogier 
that  a  thorough  acquaintance  with  them  is  not  to  be  doubted. 
Hence  Herlin  cannot,  in  originality,  be  compared  to  Schongauer, 
Zeitblom,  or  Hans  Holbein  the  elder,  but  in  technical  ability  he 
is  inferior  to  none  of  his  contemporaries. 

The  panel  painting  of  Bavaria,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  is  more 


694  PAINTING   OF   THE   GOTHIC   EPOCH. 

closely  related  to  that  of  Suabia  than  to  that  of  Franconia.  The 
works  of  this  school  are  chiefly  preserved  in  the  Gallery  of  Schleiss- 
heim  and  in  the  National  Museum  of  Munich.  In  the  hasty  and 
disorderly  collection  which  followed  the  secularization  of  the  con- 
vents in  1803,  the  derivation  of  but  few  of  the  pictures  was  record- 
ed, and  those  still  remaining  in  the  country  churches  have  not  yet 
been  examined  with  sufficient  thoroughness.  A  correct  estimate  of 
them  is  thus  impossible.  In  regard  to  the  works  and  ability  of  Ul- 
rich  Fuetterer  of  Landshut,  of  Gabriel  Maechselkircher  and  Hans 
Olmdorf  of  Munich,  there  is  as  yet  no  reliable  information.  Judging, 
however,  from  the  general  character  of  the  Bavarian  painting  of  that 
time,  no  signal  importance  can  be  ascribed  to  these  artists. 

The  productions  of  Austria  are  also  similar  to  those  of  Suabia. 
In  the  main,  the  style  obtaining  in  the  territories  north  of  the  Alps, 
from  Burgundy  to  Hungary,  after  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, shows  a  striking  similarity,  differing  both  from  that  of  Giotto 
and  that  of  the  Lower  Rhine  and  Flanders.  In  point  of  style  and 
in  technical  respects  the  influences  of  the  Netherlands  and  of  Italy 
occasionally  appeared ;  but  such  instances  were  rare,  and  did  not 
materially  alter  the  general  character.  Moreover,  the  extremes  of 
Northern  and  Southern  Germany  were  differently  affected  by  these 
influences.  The  natural  division  formed  by  the  Alps  was  of  decisive 
effect  even  in  painting,  and  the  artistic  methods  of  Italy  extended 
beyond  the  districts  where  the  language  of  that  country  was  spoken. 
The  Tyrolese,  on  the  southern  slope  of  the  Alps  at  least,  were  more 
frequently  trained  in  the  schools  of  Upper  Italy  than  in  those  of 
Southern  Germany ;  when  German  methods  appear,  they  are  so  in- 
termingled with  the  Italian  that  even  the  changes  in  style,  from 
Giotto  to  Mantegna,  can  be  traced  in  the  Tyrolese  paintings.  In 
the  North  German  Lowlands,  on  the  other  hand,  there  was  no  ac- 
tivity in  panel  painting  before  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, the  demand  being  chiefly  supplied  by  importations  from  Fran- 
conia, Holland,  and  Westphalia. 

It  is  plain  that  in  independence,  significance,  and  extent  of  ac- 
tivity the  panel  painting  of  Germany,  during  the  Gothic  epoch, 
surpassed  that  of  the  rest  of  Europe,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Netherlands.  In  illumination,  however,  Germany  was  inferior  to 


GERMANY.  695 

France.  Rude  pen  drawings  with  slight  coloring,  —  such  as  were 
common  during  the  Romanic  period  in  the  codices  of  the  convents 
rather  than  in  those  of  the  courts,— prevailed  during  the  thirteenth 
and  fourteenth  centuries.  Excellent  examples  are  presented  by  the 
manuscript  of  Wolfram  von  Eschenbach's  Parceval,  and  by  that  of 
Gottfried  von  Strasburg's  Tristan,  both  in  the  Library  of  Munich. 
After  the  fourteenth  century  attempts  were  made  to  imitate  the 
fine  colors  of  the  French  gouache  paintings,  but  the  elegant  render- 
ing, the  tasteful  arrangement,  and  decorative  effect  of  the  originals 
were  never  attained.  Gold  and  patterned  backgrounds  were  given 
up.  The  compositions  were  designed  solely  with  reference  to  an 
intelligible  expression  of  the  idea,  and  to  the  character  and  forci- 
bleness  of  the  action, — beauty  of  form  being  rare.  Even  in  the 
miniature  painting  of  Prague,  where  the  Emperor  Charles  IV.  and 
his  wife,  the  French  princess,  may  have  furthered  the  adoption  of 
the  methods  of  the  Paris  school  of  illumination,  French  influences 
did  not  predominate.  Some  of  the  characteristics  of  Italian  paint- 
ing are,  however,  to  be  observed  (compare  Fig.  419).  It  may  have 
been  owing  to  these  influences,  both  of  France  and  Italy,  that  the 
artistic  activity  of  Bohemia  at  that  time  was  increased,  and  that  the 
execution  became  more  careful.  A  delight  in  novel  subjects  is  also 
noticeable ;  in  the  drolleries  of  the  age  of  Wenzel  these  were  often 
coarse  and  sensual. 

The  miniature  painting  of  the  Austrian  court,  although  less  pro- 
ductive, was  not  essentially  different.  Germany,  on  the  whole,  con- 
tinued inferior,  good  results  being  attained  only  in  the  Rhenish 
countries,  where  the  advance  in  the  panel  painting  of  Cologne  nec- 
essarily had  an  effect  upon  the  art  of  illumination.  Berthold  Furt- 
meyer  of  Ratisbon  (d.  after  1501)  was  an  important  artist,  uncon- 
nected with  any  school ;  he  is  not,  however,  to  be  compared  to 
Fouquet.  The  influence  of  the  Netherlands  was  less  felt  in  Ger- 
many than  in  France.  The  slight  attention  devoted  by  the  Germans 
to  miniature  painting  may  have  been  in  great  measure  due  to  the 
progress  made  in  printing,  in  the  second  half  of  the  fifteenth  centu- 
ry, through  the  Rhenish  invention  which  lessened  the  demand  for 
written  manuscripts. 

The  inferiority  of  Germany  in  this  branch,  however,  was  more 


696 


PAINTING   OF   THE   GOTHIC   EPOCH. 


than  outbalanced  by  the  important  advance  early  made  in  the  arts 
of  reproduction, — the  finest  result  of  German  illumination.*  Some 
time  before  Gutenberg  gave  to  the  world  the  art  of  typography, 
which  superseded  the  writing  of  manuscripts,  the  printing  of  pict- 
ures from  wood-cuts  had  been  developed  from  pen-drawing.  The 
beginning  seems  to  have  been  made  in  the  printing  of  stuffs  by  a 


Fig.  419. — The  Annunciation.     Miniature  from  the  Breviary  of  the  Archbishop  Ernst 
of  Prague.     Bohemian  Museum  of  that  Town. 


kind  of  stamp,  first  in  the  repetition  of  a  small  pattern,  and  later  in 
the  representations  of  figures,  as  a  substitute  for  embroidery  in  one 

*  T.  O.  Weigel  und  A.  Zestermann,  Die  Anfange  der  Druckkunst  in  Schrift  und  Bild. 
Leipzig,  1866. — F.  Lippmann,  Ueber  die  Anfange  der  Formschneidekunst  und  des  Bild- 
druckes.  Repertorium  fiir  Kunstwissenschaft  I.  Stuttgart,  1876.  —  R.  Muther,  Deutsche 
Biicherillustration  der  Gothik  und  Frlihrenaissance.  Miinchen,  1884. 


GERMANY.  697 

or  more  colors.  The  printed  linen  tapestry  of  Sitten,  probably  of 
Italian  workmanship,  appears  to  be  as  early  as  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury; impressions  in  black  upon  paper,  however,  are  not  attested 
before  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth.  These  latter  were  chiefly  pro- 
duced in  Ulm,  and  were  much  in  vogue  throughout  Germany  dur- 
ing the  sixteenth  century.  The  effect  was  heightened  by  filling  in 
the  rude  outlines  with  local  tones,  this  being  often  done  with  a 
stencil.  The  pictures  were  mostly  figures  of  saints,  occasionally 
with  short  texts  cut  upon  the  same  block,  from  which  latter  the 
artisans  who  did  this  kind  of  work  were  called  Brefmaler,  or  letterers. 
These  pictures  often  formed  extended  series,  printed  partly  upon 
loose  sheets, — such  as  the  playing-cards  which,  in  Germany,  have 
retained  something  of  the  primitive  style  down  to  the  present  day, 
— or  in  books,  as,  for  instance,  "  Der  Heilsspiegel,"  "  Die  Kunst  zu 
Sterben,"  "  The  Apocalypse,"  "  The  Dance  of  Death,"  etc.  From 
these  block  books,  with  a  gradually  increasing  text,  the  art  of  print- 
ing with  movable  types  was  developed.  After  this  invention  the 
woodcut  gained  in  importance  and  excellence,  although  retaining 
its  mediaeval  character  even  beyond  the  Gothic  epoch. 

The  progress  in  copper  engraving  was  more  rapid.  This  art  is 
closely  connected  with  metal  work,  especially  niello.  Every  en- 
graved plate,  the  hollows  of  which  were  filled  in  with  color  instead 
of  enamel,  was  capable  of  giving  an  impression.  This  was  probably 
often  tried,  simply  as  a  proof,  before  a  reproduction  was  thought 
of,  and  before  the  plate,  like  the  block  of  wood,  came  to  be  con- 
sidered only  as  a  means.  The  oldest  known  date  of  a  copper  en- 
graving, 1446,  is  found  upon  a  representation  of  the  Scourging  of 
Christ,  from  a  series  of  scenes  from  the  Passion  ;  the  next  following 
dates  are  1451,  1464,  1466.  In  connection  with  the  last  of  these 
occurs  the  first  monogram,  E.  S.  The  style  of  these  works  is  that 
of  the  Rhenish  countries  and  Suabia,  in  which  latter  district  we  meet 
with  the  earliest  known  engraver,  Martin  Schongauer,  the  most  im- 
portant of  the  fifteenth  century.  His  influence  was  greater  in  en- 
graving than  in  painting,  his  methods  in  the  former  branch  being 
followed  not  only  by  his  brother  Ludwig  and  the  artist  B.  S.,  but 
by  the  most  prominent  engravers  of  Westphalia  and  the  Nether- 
lands, Franz  Bocholt  and  Israel  von  Meckenen.  In  the  East,  Schon- 


698  PAINTING  OF   THE   GOTHIC    EPOCH. 

gauer's  style  was  adopted  by  Wenzel  of  Olmuetz.  His  engravings 
were  also  used  by  many  painters,  and  were  carried  as  far  as  Italy, 
where  they  were  studied  and  copied  even  by  the  artists  of  the  Re- 
naissance. Through  Schongauer  the  art  of  copper  engraving  found 
its  first  decided  development,  and  even  painting  was  influenced  by 
his  prints. 

Wood-cutting  and  engraving  upon  metal  became  of  the  same  im- 
portance for  art  as  printing  for  literature.  The  designs  of  the  artist 
were  thus  brought  into  the  hands  of  private  individuals,  even  as  the 
possession  of  books  was  extended  beyond  the  libraries  of  courts  and 
convents.  In  the  development  of  these  methods  of  reproduction 
the  initiative  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the  closing  period  of  German  me- 
diaeval art,  and  the  importance  of  these  is  not  diminished  by  the 
poor  results  which  could  be  attained  during  the  last  decades  of  the 
Middle  Ages. 

THE    NETHERLANDS. 

Among  the  countries  of  the  North,  the  first  position  in  the  paint- 
ing of  the  Middle  Ages  should  be  assigned  to  the  Netherlands.  Panel 
painting  was  as  pre-eminent  in  Flanders  as  was  monumental  paint- 
ing in  Italy,  in  which  latter  branch  the  predecessors  of  Rubens  were 
inferior  even  to  the  artists  of  Germany.  The  cramped  circumstances 
of  the  political  and  social  organization  led  to  the  development  of  a 
fine  and  miniature -like  painting  upon  panels.  The  mural  decora- 
tions of  the  Netherlands  at  this  period  are  scarcely  worthy  of  men- 
tion. The  representation  of  three  living  and  three  dead  figures  in 
the  Church  of  Zalt-Bommel  (Guelders)  is  of  but  slight  artistic  im- 
portance, and  is,  moreover,  without  novelty,  as  the  subject  had  fre- 
quently been  treated  in  the  wall  paintings  and  miniatures  of  Eng- 
land,— not  to  speak  of  the  infinitely  superior  Triumph  of  Death  in 
the  Campo  Santo  at  Pisa.  Before  the  sixteenth  century  there  were 
in  glass  painting  no  indications  of  that  independence  and  artistic 
excellence  which  characterize  the  fine  Renaissance  windows  of  the 
Cathedral  of  Ste.  Gudule  at  Brussels.  Better  results  were  attained 
in  the  textile  arts  by  Burgundy  and  the  Netherlands,  but  even  these 
did  not  become  of  higher  significance  until  the  fifteenth  century. 
The  liturgical  garments  preserved  in  the  Ambras  collection  of  Vi- 


THE   NETHERLANDS.  699 

enna  are  of  the  earlier  period.  These  hand  embroideries,  however, 
are  of  less  interest  than  the  stuffs  woven  in  colored  figures  in  imita- 

o 

tion  of  the  technical  methods  of  the  Orient.  Such  woven  tapestries 
were  chiefly  produced  in  Flanders,  and  Arras, — the  centre  of  this  in- 
dustry until  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  when  it  was  surpassed 
by  Brussels,— gave  to  such  hangings  the  widely  known  name  Arazzi. 
The  finest  tapestries  of  the  kind,  referable  to  the  period  in  question, 
are  those  formerly  in  possession  of  the  ruling  family  of  Burgundy, 
now  preserved  in  the  Library  of  Berne  and  the  Museum  of  Nancy. 
Of  somewhat  later  date  are  the  Gobelin  tapestries  in  the  Palace  of 
Madrid  representing  the  legend  of  the  Virgin  ;  compared  with  the  be- 
fore-mentioned, these  exhibit  the  same  artistic  decadence  as  that  evi- 
dent in  the  paintings  of  the  Netherlands  after  the  death  of  Memling. 

The  most  important  branch  of  art  in  the  Netherlands,  during  the 
fifteenth  century,  was  panel  painting.  In  determining  its  origin  it 
is  first  necessary  to  rectify  the  exaggerated  estimate  commonly  held 
in  regard  to  the  altar  of  the  Carthusian  Convent  of  Dijon,  painted, 
shortly  before  1400,  by  Melchior  Broederlam  of  Ypres,  and  now 
preserved  in  the  museum  of  Dijon.  These  paintings  have  been 
unduly  praised ;  they  are  little  better  than  the  contemporary  pro- 
ductions of  the  Rhenish  countries,  and  are  decidedly  inferior  to  the 
panel  pictures  ascribed  to  Master  William.  In  artistic  importance 
they  are  not  to  be  compared  to  the  sculptures  of  Sluter  in  Dijon, 
and  scarcely  equal  the  wood-carvings  of  James  de  Baerse  upon  the 
same  altar.  Broederlam  in  nowise  deserves  to  be  called  the  fore- 
runner of  Van  Eyck  and  Rogier,  although  it  may  be  assumed  that 
in  panel  painting  he  attained  to  the  highest  standard  of  the  Neth- 
erlands in  the  fourteenth  century.  This  branch  of  art  seems  to 
have  been  but  little  favored  at  that  period.  Much  may,  indeed, 
have  been  lost  through  the  destruction  of  Iconoclasts  and  the  neg- 
lect of  later  ages ;  still,  this  does  not  sufficiently  explain  the  great 
scarcity  of  paintings  referable  to  that  time.  When,  in  the  year  1385, 
the  dukes  of  Burgundy  came  into  possession  of  a  part  of  these  ter- 
ritories, they  devoted  their  chief  attention  to  illuminated  manu- 
scripts, furthering  panel  painting  only  in  so  far  as  it  was  connected 
with  that  of  miniatures. 

It  is  hence  vain  to  search  for  any  direct  predecessors  of  the  great 


700  PAINTING   OF   THE   GOTHIC   EPOCH. 

painters  of  the  fifteenth  century ;  we  can  only  assume  them  to  have 
been  influenced  by  such  illuminators  as  those  employed  at  the 
French  courts.  The  school  of  Tournay,  which  is  only  known  from 
its  sculptures,  may  also  have  had  an  effect  upon  the  development 
of  these  painters;  the  founder  of  the  school  of  Brabant,  at  least, 
was  trained  at  Tournay.  Nothing  further  than  the  name  of  the 
master  of  Rogier  is  known :  Robert  Campin,  a  contemporary  of 
Broederlam,  and  probably  superior  to  the  latter.  Certain  it  is  that 
the  improvements  of  the  new  school,  in  the  employment  of  pig- 
ments, in  drawing,  in  the  direct  study  of  nature,  in  linear  and  aerial 
perspective,  were  not  effected  before  the  fifteenth  century. 

The  first  to  make  this  advance  were  the  brothers  Hubert  and 
Jan  van  Eyck,  so  called  from  their  home,  Maaseyck,  near  Maes- 
tricht.  Concerning  the  circumstances  of  their  lives,  it  is  only  known 
that  Hubert,  the  older  of  the  two,  lived  in  Ghent  about  1424,  where 
he  died  in  1426;  while  Jan,  between  1422  and  1424,  was  in  the 
Hague,  in  the  service  of  Duke  John  of  Bavaria,  the  last  German 
ruler  of  Luxemburg,  Brabant,  and  Holland.  Jan  was  afterwards  in 
the  employment  of  Philip  the  Good  of  Burgundy,  living  in  Lille  un- 
til 1428,  when  he  was  sent  by  his  patron  to  Portugal,  remaining  in 
that  country  until  the  close  of  the  year  1429.  Between  1430  and 
1432  he  was  in  Ghent,  and  finally  in  Bruges,  where  he  died  in  1440. 

The  older  historians  of  the  growth  of  painting  have  dwelt  chiefly 
on  the  innovation  introduced  by  the  brothers  Van  Eyck  in  substi- 
tuting the  employment  of  oil  for  that  of  tempera.  But  important 
as  was  the  advantage  obtained  by  the  use  of  the  new  pigments,  the 
significance  of  this  method  depended  rather  upon  the  fact  that  it 
presented  the  best  means  of  obtaining  the  desired  end.  Oil  colors 
were  not,  strictly  speaking,  invented  by  the  Van  Eycks,  having  been 
employed  as  early  as  the  eleventh  century,  principally  for  house- 
painting  and  for  decorating  armor  and  banners,  the  greater  dura- 
bility of  the  medium  having  been  fully  recognized.  A  passage  of 
Cennino  proves  that  the  deep  and  velvety  effect  of  oil  colors  was 
also  appreciated,  and  that  they  had  previously  been  introduced  into 
panel  painting.  The  pigments  of  mediaeval  tempera  also  had  this 
merit,  as  their  glutinous  mediums, —  gelatine,  white  of  egg,  the  juice 
of  figs  and  grapes,  etc., — were  capable  of  giving  them  a  brilliancy 


THE   NETHERLANDS.  701 

fully  equal  to  that  of  oil  colors,  while  the  varnishes  which  had  long 
been  in  use  secured  an  effect  of  such  depth  that  it  is  difficult  to  say, 
from  the  appearance  of  the  colors  alone,  whether  a  picture  is  exe- 
cuted in  tempera  or  in  oil.  The  advantages  of  the  latter  process 
consisted  rather  in  the  mode  of  application.  For  while  the  pigments 
in  tempera,  as  in  gouache,  dried  so  rapidly  that  their  employment 
was  only  possible  in  surfaces  of  one  tint,  or  in  shading  with  fine 
lines,  the  slowly  drying  oil  permitted  a  modelling  by  means  of  colors 
of  different  depth,  these  blending  readily  with  the  pigments  fresh 
from  the  brush.  In  technical  as  well  as  in  artistic  respects  a  higher 
degree  of  perfection  was  thus  obtained  than  at  any  previous  period 
in  the  history  of  painting. 

The  innovators  themselves  profited  by  all  the  advantages  which 
the  new  methods  afforded.  In  fineness  and  clearness  the  execution 
reached  a  degree  of  perfection  previously  unknown  even  in  minia- 
ture. The  Van  Eycks  were  not  content  with  giving  greater  refine- 
ment to  the  typical  style  of  their  predecessors,  but  strove  after  a 
direct  imitation  of  nature.  Their  merit  depended  upon  this,  no  less 
than  upon  their  improvements  in  technical  respects.  The  genius  of 
the  brothers  is  evident  in  their  exact  and  logical  representation  of 
effects  of  light  and  shade,  as  well  as  of  linear  and  aerial  perspective, 
and  is  perceived  in  the  nude  parts,  the  garments,  in  all  the  accessa- 
ries, and  even  in  the  landscapes  of  the  backgrounds.  Although  in 
certain  details  this  excellence  had  been  attained  by  artists  of  earlier 
ages,  it  may,  upon  the  whole,  be  said  that  the  work  of  the  Van 
Eycks  led  from  the  conventional  hieratic  and  decorative  treatment 
to  technical  perfection, — from  the  mere  coloring  of  an  outline  draw- 
ing to  the  true  art  of  painting. 

The  oldest  work  of  the  two  masters  which  is  accurately  dated  is 
among  the  most  important  paintings  of  all  time.  This  is  the  altar- 
piece  of  the  Church  of  St.  Bavo  at  Ghent,  dedicated  by  Jost  Vyd, 
a  citizen  of  that  town.  It  consisted  of  twelve  panels,  eight  of  which 
are  painted  upon  both  sides ;  the  large  central  piece,  still  in  its  orig- 
inal place,  represents  in  the  lower  compartment  the  Worship  of  the 
Lamb,  and,  above,  God  the  Father  between  the  Virgin  and  St.  John 
(Figs.  420  and  421).  The  four  wings  of  the  lower  part,  which  show 
upon  their  fronts  the  just  judges,  knights,  hermits,  and  pilgrims 


7O2 


PAINTING   OF   THE   GOTHIC   EPOCH. 


coming  in  troops  to  adore  the  Lamb, — together  with  two  of  the 
upper  wings,  representing  angels  making  music,  —  are  among  the 
greatest  treasures  of  the  Gallery  of  Berlin.  The  outer  upper  pan- 
els, with  the  figures  of  Adam  and  Eve,  are  in  the  Museum  of  Brus- 


Figs.  420  and  421.— The  Virgin  and  St.  John,  from  the  Altar  of  the  Brothers  Van  Eyck 
in  the  Church  of  St.  Bavo  at  Ghent. 

sels.  In  St.  Bavo  at  Ghent  the  missing  panels  have  been  replaced 
by  the  corresponding  parts  of  the  excellent  copy  of  the  whole,  made 
by  M.  Coxcien  at  the  order  of  Philip  II. 


THE   NETHERLANDS.  703 

Hubert  could  only  devote  the  last  two  years  of  his  life  to  this 
work ;  he  left  it  unfinished,  and  Jan,  who  wis  engaged  elsewhere, 
did  not  complete  it  until  1432.  The  central  group,  which  in  ideal 
grandeur  and  beauty  differs  vastly  from  the  works  of  Jan,  can  with 
reasonable  certainty  be  attributed  to  Hubert ;  the  angels  singing 
and  playing,  and  the  chief  portion  of  the  worship  of  the  Lamb,  may 
also  be  referred  to  him.  All  the  remainder  is  by  Jan,  including  the 
back  sides  of  the  wings,  representing  the  donor  with  his  wife  Elsbeth 
Burlut,  the  two  St.  Johns,  painted  gray  in  gray  in  imitation  of  stone 
sculptures,  and  the  Annunciation,  prophets  and  sibyls  in  the  upper 
part.  The  works  of  Jan  are  decidedly  more  dry  and  less  devotional, 
but  his  realism,  both  in  subject  and  execution,  is  of  a  high  degree  of 
perfection.  This  applies  particularly  to  the  portraits  of  the  donors 
and  to  the  nude  figures  of  Adam  and  Eve,  which  latter,  in  their 
truth  to  nature,  were  in  after-times  held  to  be  objectionable,  and 
removed  from  the  church.  Hubert,  the  idealist,  was  undoubtedly  the 
greater  master;  Jan,  the  unmitigated  realist,  the  better  painter. 

The  ability  of  Jan  is  evident  in  his  pictures  of  secular  rather 
than  in  those  of  religious  subjects.  Notwithstanding  the  technical 
perfection,  a  certain  prosaic  character  is  unpleasantly  felt  in  the 
Madonna  of  Canon  van  der  Paele  in  the  Academy  of  Bruges  (Fig. 
422),  a  repetition  of  which  is  in  the  Museum  of  Antwerp;  the  case 
is  similar  with  the  Madonna  of  Chancellor  Rollin  in  the  Louvre,  and 
with  the  Madonnas  of  Antwerp,  Dresden,  Berlin,  Paris,  and  Bur- 
leigh  House.  The  want  of  beauty  in  the  faces  and  of  grace  in  the 
gestures,  as  well  as  the  subordination  of  the  ecclesiastical  character 

o 

to  a  portrait-like  and  genre  style, — even  the  masterly  representation 
of  the  accessaries  as  in  a  still-life, — give  to  these  works  the  stamp  of 
cabinet  pieces  rather  than  of  devotional  pictures.  Jan's  Head  of 
Christ,  referable  to  the  year  1438,  now  in  the  Museum  of  Berlin,  is 
in  sentiment  vastly  inferior  to  the  types  portrayed  by  Hubert  in  the 
altar  of  Ghent.  The  more  perfect,  on  the  other  hand,  are  Jan's  por- 
traits, particularly  when  somewhat  genre-like  in  conception.  The 
finest  of  all  the  works  of  this  kind,  dating  from  the  fifteenth  century, 
and  one  of  the  greatest  masterpieces  of  all  ages,  is  the  portrait  of 
Giovanni  Arnolfini  of  Lucca,  and  his  wife  Jeanne  de  Chenany,  paint- 
ed in  1434,  now  in  the  National  Gallery  of  London.  The  life-like 


704 


PAINTING   OF   THE   GOTHIC   EPOCH. 


character  of  these  unattractive  personages,  portrayed  with  a  more 
than  photographic  truth  to  nature,  is  not  even  the  chief  merit  of 
the  work :  finer  still  is  the  representation  of  the  interior  and  all  the 
accessaries,  which,  in  delicacy  and  clearness,  has  not  been  surpassed 
before  or  since,  and  in  fine  effects  of  light  and  color  was  unequalled 
until  the  time  of  Pieter  de  Hooghe. 


Fig.  422. — Madonna  of  Canon  van  der  Paele,  by  Jan  van  Eyck.     Academy  of  Bruges. 

It  is  not  strange  that  in  the  fifteenth  century  opinion  was  unde- 
cided in  regard  to  the  relative  greatness  of  the  two  brothers,  and 
that  the  preference  was  often  given  to  Jan,  who,  owing  to  his  longer 
life,  accomplished  more,  and  was  able  to  establish  a  school.  Still, 
among  those  supposed  to  have  been  his  pupils,  only  one  is  well 
known,  Petrus  Cristus  of  Bruges,  who,  like  Jan  van  Eyck,  usually 
signed  his  pictures.  His  best  works  are  his  portraits;  these,  how- 
ever, are  not  equal  to  those  of  Jan.  Chief  among  them  is  that  dated 


THE   NETHERLANDS.  705 

1449,  in  the  Oppenheim  Collection  at  Cologne,  representing  a  bridal 
couple  who  are  buying  their  wedding-rings  of  the  goldsmith  St.  Eli- 
gius.  This  is  a  peculiar  mixture  of  portraiture  and  of  genre-like  re- 
ligious art,  which,  from  the  elaboration  of  the  accessaries,— as,  for 
instance,  the  jewellery  exposed  for  sale, — has  in  great  measure  the 
character  of  a  still-life.  If  the  artistic  treatment  of  landscape  back- 
grounds first  appeared  in  the  altar  of  Ghent,  and  that  of  interiors  in 
the  portrait  of  Arnolfini  by  Jan  van  Eyck,  the  genre  and  still-life 
painting  of  the  Netherlands  had  its  forerunner  in  this  picture  of 
St.  Eligius  by  Petrus  Cristus. 

No  picture  can  be  ascribed  with  certainty  to  Gerard  van  der 
Meire  of  Ghent,  although  it  is  possible  that  some  of  his  works  may 
be  among  those  in  the  Gallery  of  Madrid  generally  attributed  to  the 
Van  Eycks.  Another  master  of  Ghent,  Hugo  van  der  Goes,  is  bet- 
ter known  from  the  story  of  his  life, — he  having  died  insane,  A.  D. 
1482,  in  the  Rooden  Clooster  near  Soignies,  which  he  had  entered 
as  a  painter  of  great  renown, — than  by  the  single  picture  referable 
with  certainty  to  his  hand  :  the  Nativity,  which  Tommaso  Portinari 
dedicated  in  the  Hospital  of  S.  Maria  Nuova  at  Florence,  this  work 
being  somewhat  dry  in  composition  and  color.  A  third  artist  of 
Ghent,  Jost  van  Gent,  was  employed  in  Italy  at  the  court  of  Duke 
Federigo  of  Urbino,  where  he  painted  the  Institution  of  the  Last 
Supper,  now  in  the  Academy  of  that  town. 

In  the  age  of  these  last-named  artists,  however,  the  style  of  the 
Van  Eycks  was  not  the  only  one  in  the  Netherlands,  and  the  art  of 
that  country  was  not  entirely  dependent  upon  their  models.  The 
Flemish  school  of  Ghent  and  Bruges  was  rivalled  by  that  of  Bra- 
bant, which  originated  in  Tournay,  an  old  and  celebrated  centre  of 
art.  In  1426,  the  year  in  which  Hubert  van  Eyck  died,  Rogier  van 
der  Weyden  entered  the  school  of  Robert  Campin, — a  painter  oth- 
erwise unknown, — and  six  years  later  he  was  received  into  the  guild 
as  a  master.  Any  direct  connection  with  Hubert  is  therefore  im- 
possible, and  with  Jan  improbable,  as  Rogier  went  from  Tournay  to 
Brussels,  where,  as  early  as  1436,  he  was  honored  by  the  title  of 
town  painter.  Rogier  was  without  doubt  acquainted  with  the 
works  of  the  Flemish  school,  and  endeavored  to  equal  them  in  fine- 
ness of  execution  and  in  the  study  of  nature  ;  but  the  master,  after 

45 


PAINTING  OF  THE   GOTHIC   EPOCH. 

having  acquired  his  training,  did  not  easily  adopt  the  methods  of 
others.  This  is  evident  even  from  the  fact  that  his  sojourn  of  two 
years  in  Italy,  1449  and  1450,  had  not  the  slightest  perceptible  in- 
fluence upon  his  later  works.  The  tendencies  of  his  art  are  en- 
tirely different  from  those  of  the  school  of  Flanders.  He  strove 
after  dramatic  effect,  and,  when  possible,  avoided  subjects  of  much 
detail  and  but  little  action,  such  as  those  in  which  the  ability  of 
the  Flemish  artists  was  chiefly  displayed.  He  painted  by  prefer- 
ence scenes  from  the  Passion  rather  than  Madonnas  and  saints,  and 
paid  great  attention  to  pathos  of  expression  and  to  the  direct  par- 
ticipation of  all  the  figures  in  the  scene  represented.  The  digni- 
ty and  beauty  which  characterized  the  works  of  Hubert  van  Eyck 
and  the  quiet  tone  of  those  of  Jan  were  equally  foreign  to  his  style. 
His  observation  of  nature  was  close,  but  somewhat  unsympathetic ; 
his  coloring  cool.  Great  as  was  the  pains  bestowed  upon  delicacy 
and  fineness  of  execution,  this  was  wisely  subordinated  to  the  pres- 
entation of  the  idea.  These  qualities  are  evident  in  Rogier's  chief 
production,  the  Descent  from  the  Cross,  in  the  Escurial,  a  repetition 
of  which  is  in  the  Prado  at  Madrid.  In  this  effective  composition 
is  represented  every  stage  of  grief:  compassion,  the  most  poignant 
suffering,  swoon,  and  death.  Similar  in  character  are  the  pictures 
of  the  Passion,  in  Vienna,  Florence,  and  in  the  Capilla  Real  at 
Granada;  the  Last  Judgment,  in  the  Hospital  of  Beaune ;  and  the 
Seven  Sacraments,  in  Madrid.  What  must  have  been  the  dramatic 
power  of  the  Trajan  and  Herkenbald  series  of  paintings  in  the  Town- 
hall  of  Brussels  may  be  judged  in  some  measure  by  the  Burgundian 
tapestries  in  the  Town  Library  of  Berne.  It  is  not  strange  that  this 
pathetic  element  in  the  art  of  Rogier  obtained  for  him  many  pupils 
and  admirers,  especially  among  the  Germans. 

Side  by  side  with  the  styles  of  Flanders  and  Brabant,  still  a 
third  is  to  be  recognized  in  the  Netherlands,  namely,  that  of  Hol- 
land. Our  information  concerning  its  beginning  is  but  slight,  owing, 
in  great  measure,  to  the  more  thorough  destruction  effected  in  the 
north-west  of  the  country  by  the  Iconoclasts.  We  learn,  however, 
of  the  existence  of  a  school  at  Haerlem  :  Van  Mander  praising 
among  others  the  landscape  backgrounds  of  Albert  van  Ouwater, 
and  the  works  of  Gerrit  tot  S.  Jans.  To  the  latter  are  probably  to 


THE   NETHERLANDS.  707 

be  ascribed  the  Bewailing  of  the  Christ,  and  the  Miracles  of  St. 
John  in  the  Gallery  of  Vienna ;  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  in  the  last 
picture  great  importance  is  assigned  to  the  landscape.  To  the 
school  of  Holland  belonged  also  Dierik  Bouts  (Dirk  van  Harlem), 
who,  about  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  established  himself 
at  Louvain,  where  he  died  in  1475.  Still,  this  removal  does  not 
preclude  the  assumption  that  his  style  had  been  as  entirely  devel- 
oped in  Holland  as  that  of  Rogier  in  Tournay.  Its  characteristics 
are  the  eminently  picturesque  treatment  of  the  composition,  the 
somewhat  awkward  drawing  of  the  figures,  and,  notably,  the  fine  ef- 
fects of  landscape.  His  chief  work,  the  Corpus  Christi  Altar  in  St. 
Peter  at  Louvain, — of  which  the  centre  piece,  representing  the  Last 
Supper,  is  still  in  that  church,  while  two  of  the  wings  are  in  Munich 
and  two  in  Berlin, — shows  the  power  of  the  master  as  a  colorist, 
and  is  among  the  finest  specimens  of  the  early  art  of  the  Nether- 
lands. Of  especial  excellence  are  the  panels  in  Berlin.  The  same 
qualities  appear  in  the  exquisite  triptych  in  Munich,  representing 
the  Adoration  of  the  Magi  in  the  central  panel,  and  St.  John  the 
Baptist  and  St.  Christopher  in  the  wings.  St.  John  stands  in  a 
sunny  mountainous  landscape,  the  perspective  effect  of  which  was 
unequalled  even  throughout  the  sixteenth  century,  and  is  far  supe- 
rior to  the  celebrated  scenery  of  Memling's  Seven  Joys  of  the  Vir- 
gin. In  the  picture  of  St.  Christopher,  as  in  the  representation  of 
the  Israelites  gathering  manna,  of  the  Corpus  Christi  Altar,  an  effect 
of  sunset  and  twilight  is  attained,  compared  with  which  all  similar 
attempts  of  the  period  are  insignificant.  These  works  are  the  pre- 
cursors of  the  picturesque  landscapes  of  the  later  Dutch  school. 

The  close  of  this  period  was  marked  by  the  appearance  of  Hans 
Memling.  The  native  place  of  this  artist  is  unknown,  but,  from  the 
spelling  of  his  first  name,  even  in  official  records,  it  is  not  improba- 
ble that  he  was  a  German.  After  1478  he  worked  in  Bruges,  where 
he  died  A.  D.  1495, — not  as  a  pauper  in  a  hospital,  as  tradition  has 
it,  but  in  affluent  circumstances.  His  technical  methods,  similar  to 
those  of  Rogier,  are  combined  with  an  elaboration  of  details  resem-. 
blins"  that  of  the  school  of  Flanders,  and  with  a  trace  of  sentimental 

o 

idealism  akin  to  that  of  Cologne.  In  two  artistic  qualities  he  is  supe- 
rior to  all  his  contemporaries,  namely,  in  the  attractive  gracefulness 


708  PAINTING   OF   THE   GOTHIC   EPOCH. 

and  the  beauty  of  form  of  his  figures.  These  qualities  contrast  favor- 
ably with  the  somewhat  prosaic  character  of  Jan  van  Eyck,  with  the 
dryness  and  hardness  of  Rogier,  and  with  the  stiffness  and  awk- 
wardness of  Dierik.  Although  the  Madonnas  of  Memling  have  much 
of  the  grace  to  be  observed  in  those  of  Master  Stephen  of  Cologne, 
and  of  those  of  Simone  of  Siena,  and  although  it  is  evident  from 
the  architectural  background  of  the  Shrine  of  St.  Ursula  that  Mem- 
ling  was  well  acquainted  with  Cologne,  it  is  nevertheless  certain  that 
he  was  in  nowise  dependent  upon  the  artistic  methods  of  that  city. 

There  are  few  figures  more  attractive  than  that  of  St.  Catherine 
in  the  central  picture  of  the  altar  of  St.  John  in  the  Hospital  of 
Bruges ;  few  of  greater  loveliness  and  dignity  than  the  Madonnas  of 
Memling.  St.  Ursula  and  her  virgins  in  the  shrine  of  the  same  hos- 
pital are  types  of  chaste  maidenliness,  the  angels  scarcely  inferior  to 
those  of  Fiesole.  Memling  combined  an  inexhaustible  imagination 
with  perfect  mastery  in  the  arrangement  of  the  most  complicated 
scenes,  as  is  shown  by  the  so-called  Seven  Joys  of  the  Virgin  in 
Munich,  and  the  smaller  picture  of  the  Seven  Sorrows  in  Turin. 

The  development  of  the  early  painting  of  the  Netherlands  reached 
its  greatest  perfection  in  Memling,  in  whom  were  combined  the  pecu- 
liar characteristics  of  the  different  schools.  During  the  first  quarter 
of  the  sixteenth  century  the  methods  of  Memling  continued  to  be 
practised  with  but  little  alteration.  His  style  is  evident  in  the  works 
of  Gerard  David  of  Oudewater,  the  most  eminent  master  of  the 
group  immediately  preceding  Massys  and  the  Northern  Renaissance. 

As  the  panel  painting  of  the  Netherlands  had  been  developed 
from  illumination,  so  also  did  it  exercise  upon  this  art  a  reflex  ac- 
tion of  much  importance.  It  is  not,  indeed,  susceptible  of  proof 
that  any  one  of  the  great  artists  devoted  his  attention  to  the  illus- 
tration of  books,  although  miniature  painters  not  uncommonly  exe- 
cuted work  upon  larger  panels,  or  even  wall  surfaces, — instance  the 
celebrated  Simon  Marmion.  The  limitation  of  the  miniatures  to 
body  colors,  and  the  nature  of  the  parchment  upon  which  they  were 
painted,  did  not  permit  the  fine  delicacy  and  the  harmonious  blend- 
ing of  tones  observable  in  the  oil  pictures  of  the  Netherlands.  Still, 
excellent  works  of  the  kind  are  to  be  found  in  the  libraries  of  Brus- 
sels, Paris,  and  Vienna,  the  miniatures  being  generally  restricted  to 


FRANCE.  709 

the  title  or  dedicatory  picture  of  the  manuscript,  but  occasionally 
occurring  in  great  number,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  breviary  in  posses- 
sion of  the  Duke  of  Bedford,  which  contains  not  less  than  two  thou- 
sand five  hundred  illustrations.  The  finest  of  these  works  is  the 
Breviarium  Grimani  in  the  Library  of  S.  Marco  at  Venice,  the  min- 
iatures of  which  are  ascribed,  in  the  records  of  the  year  1521,  to 
Lievin  van  Lathem  and  Gerard  Horebout. 

Reviewing  the  general  situation,  in  conclusion,  it  is  plain  that 
France,  towards  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  was  deprived  of 
the  leading  position  which  it  had  maintained  for  more  than  two 
hundred  years,  even  as  Germany  had  lost  its  ascendency  at  the  close 
of  the  Romanic  epoch.  In  architecture,  the  field  of  its  greatest  suc- 
cesses, France  was  surpassed  by  Germany ;  in  sculpture,  by  Italy ; 
and  even  in  illumination,  a  favored  branch  in  the  later  times  of 
trivial  luxury,  by  the  Netherlands.  England  attained  to  a  more 
logical  and  independent  development  in  Gothic  than  in  Norman 
architecture,  the  perpendicular  style  being  a  truly  national  mode  of 
artistic  expression,  as  it  was  eminently  practical,  and  corresponded 
\vell  with  the  peculiar  tendencies  of  the  Britons.  The  art  of  the 
burghers  of  Germany, — in  striking  contrast  to  that  of  the  feudal 
nobles  of  England, — created  its  chief  monuments  in  the  commercial 
cities,  this  being  the  case  not  only  with  architecture,  but  with 
sculpture  and  painting.  The  greater  the  interest,  however,  felt  for 
art  among  the  bourgeois  circles,  the  less  was  it  possible  to  avoid  its 
becoming  industrial  in  character,  and  not  infrequently  degenerating 
into  a  mere  manufacture.  A  contrary  movement  was  occasionally 
observable,  artists  of  real  talent  and  individuality  appearing  as  rep- 
resentatives of  the  guilds ;  still,  such  instances  were  rare  before  the 
end  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

The  countries  of  the  extreme  south-west  and  north  of  the  Conti- 
nent,— Spain  and  Scandinavia, — were  interesting  chiefly  in  archi- 
tectural respects.  While  the  Spaniards  endeavored  to  improve 
upon  the  Gothic  style  of  the  French,  through  the  erection  of  mon- 
uments of  grand  dimensions  and  elaborate  ornamentation,  the  Scan- 
dinavians did  little  more  than  adopt  the  artistic  methods  of  the 
North-German  Lowlands.  The  case  was  the  same  in  Poland,  which 


/IO  PAINTING  OF   THE   GOTHIC    EPOCH. 

was  but  rarely,  and  through  Silesia,  brought  into  communication  with 
the  schools  of  Central  and  Southern  Germany, — notably  that  of 
Nuremberg.  The  culture  of  Hungary  was  almost  entirely  depend- 
ent upon  that  of  the  Eastern  Mark. 

The  development  of  the  higher  principles  of  art,  during  the  fif- 
teenth century,  was  furthered  mainly  by  the  Netherlands  and  Italy, 
sculpture  and  painting  in  these  countries  not  being  considered 
merely  as  ministers  of  luxury, — not  being  assigned  merely  to  guilds 
of  artisans, — but  treated  with  love  and  pride  as  exponents  of  the  na- 
tional character.  The  painting  of  the  Netherlands,  chiefly  limited 
to  panels,  arrived  at  a  fine  and  somewhat  miniature-like  perfection. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  art  of  Italy,  alike  excellent  in  all  branches, 
attained  in  mural  painting  and  in  marble  sculpture  a  grander  and 
more  monumental  character.  The  superiority  of  both  these  coun- 
tries was  so  great  that  all  the  other  parts  of  Europe  were  more  or 
less  subjected  to  their  influence.  The  domain  of  the  Netherlands, — 
extending  in  Spain  to  Andalusia  and  Catalonia,  in  France  to  the 
district  of  the  Rhone,  throughout  Northern  and  Western  Germany, 
and  even  Scandinavia, — was  of  greater  extent  than  that  of  Italy, 
which  was  limited  to  Southern  Spain,  Southern  France,  and  the 
Alpine  regions.  Nevertheless,  it  was  plain,  before  the  end  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  which  of  the  two  national  schools  of  art  was  to 
become  of  the  greater  importance.  For  while  in  the  Netherlands 
there  were  but  slight  indications  of  a  new  growth,  after  the  death 
of  Memling  and  the  decline  of  the  earlier  traditions,  in  Italy  the 
Renaissance  had  been  fully  entered  upon  during  the  lifetime  of  the 
last  representatives  of  the  artistic  conceptions  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
In  Germany,  even  masters  of  the  first  rank,  who  had  based  their  art 
upon  the  mediaeval  methods  of  local  schools,  were  themselves  not 
able  to  avoid  the  introduction  of  Italian  traits.  The  Netherlands 
could  still  less  resist  these  tendencies  at  a  time  when  their  independ- 
ent importance  had  been  almost  entirely  lost.  This  last  stronghold 
of  Northern  mediaeval  art  having  been  taken  by  the  Renaissance, 
those  countries  which  had  previously  been  dependent  upon  Flan- 
ders and  Brabant  naturally  came  altogether  under  the  influence  of 
Italy,  which  in  the  sixteenth  century  made  itself  felt  throughout 
the  greater  part  of  the  Continent. 


GLOSSARY. 


MANY  of  the  technical  terms  introduced  into  this  book  have  been  de- 
fined by  the  translator  in  the  Glossary  appended  to  Dr.  Franz  von  Reber's 
"  History  of  Ancient  Art."  New  York,  Harper  &  Brothers,  1882. 

The  words  which  here  follow  merely  supplement  that  list,  and,  in  great- 
er part,  refer  only  to  the  arts  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Especial  attention  has 
been  devoted  to  their  etymological  derivation.  In  the  case  of  some  words 
which  are  often  employed  in  a  sense  too  widely  extended  to  allow  of  their 
being  used  without  qualification  in  careful  architectural  descriptions,  some 
advance  towards  precision  of  definition  has  been  attempted.  It  has  not, 
however,  been  thought  necessary  to  deal  with  words  in  common  usage — such 
as  basilica,  battlement,  column,  etc. — nor  with  those  designations  of  infre- 
quent occurrence  which  in  the  present  volume  have  been  explained  in  the 
text,  such  as  Cosmatic  work,  having  its  name  from  the  decorative  methods 
of  the  sculptor  Cosmos,  the  names  of  the  many  varieties  of  Indian  monu- 
ments, the  divisions  of  the  Mohammedan  mosque,  and  the  like. 


Abut'llieilt  (Fr.  abotitSment,  from  abonter, 
to  touch  at  one  end).  That  part  of  a  wall, 
pier,  or  other  mass  of  masonry  which  serves 
to  support  the  thrust  of  an  arch  or  vault. 

Aisle  (Old  Fr.;  from  Lat.  a/a,  wing).  The 
longitudinal  division  of  the  body  or  transept 
of  a  church. 

Am'bo  (late  Lat. ;  from  Gr.  dpfiwv,  a  raised 
stage,  a  reading-desk).  A  pulpit  in  the  choir, 
from  which  the  sacred  writings  are  read. 

Alltepeil'dium  (Low  Lat. ;  from  ante,  be- 
fore, and  pendere,  to  hang).  A  hanging  or 
screen  with  which  the  front  of  an  altar  is  cov- 
ered. 

Apse  (Gr.  ai//<c,  the  felloe  of  a  wheel ;  an 
arch  ;  a  vault.  The  form  apsis  should  be  re- 
stricted to  the  astronomical  term).  A  recess 
of  semicircular  or  polygonal  plan,  especially 
at  the  end  of  the  choir,  aisles,  or  transept  of  a 
church,  commonly  vaulted  with  a  conch. 

Architrave  (from  Gr.  apxte,  chief,  and 
Lat.  trabs,  beam).  The  lowest  division  of  the 
entablature,  the  epistyle. 


Archirolt  (from  Lat.  arcus,  arch,  and  v ol- 
ta,  vault).  A  curved  architrave,  the  concen- 
tric mouldings  of  which  border  the  face  of  an 
arch. 

Ashlar  (derivation  uncertain.  F.  Mueller 
suggests  Lat.  assula,  a  small  board,  chip,  or 
block,  through  Prov.  asclnr,  to  split.  Other- 
wise :  Lat.  axilla,  armpit,  through  Fr.  aiselle, 
coming  into  technical  use  zsaist/er).  A  squared 
building-stone,  particularly  when  employed  for 
the  revetment  of  a  mass  of  coarser  masonry. 

Bailey  (Old  Fr.  bailie,  barrier,  palisade, 
from  Lat.  ballinm,  corruption  of  vallum,  ram- 
part, from  vallzis,  stake).  An  open  court 
within  a  fortified  castle  ;  particularly  the 
space  between  the  enclosing  walls  and  the 
keep-tower. 

Bar'bacan  (of  uncertain  Oriental  origin. 
Col.  Yule  suggests  Arab.  Pers.  bab-khanah, 
towered  gate-way.  Word  introduced  into 
Western  Europe  after  the  Crusades).  A 
watch-tower.  An  advanced  work  before  the 


712 


GLOSSARY. 


entrance  to  a  castle  or  other  fortification, 
particularly  a  double  tower  above  a  gate  or 
the  abutment  of  a  bridge. 

Bar'rel- vault.  A  semi-cylindrical  vault, 
springing  from  two  parallel  walls ;  so  called 
from  its  resemblance  to  the  interior  surface 
of  a  barrel,  split  lengthwise. 

liar'tizan  (apparently  first  used  in  its  pres- 
ent form  by  Sir  Walter  Scott,  corruption  of 
brattice,  a  parapet ;  Old  Fr.  bretesche,  from 
Germ.  Brett,  a  board).  A  small  overhanging 
turret ;  battlemented,  and  generally  project- 
ing from  an  angle  of  the  upper  part  of  a 
tower. 

lias'tioil  (Fr. ;  from  batir,  to  build  ;  Ital. 
bastione,  from  bastire).  A  rampart,  bulwark, 
or  tower  projecting  from  the  face  of  a  fortifi- 
cation ;  particularly  an  earthwork  of  irregu- 
lar pentagonal  plan,  faced  with  masonry. 

Bead.  In  architectural  usage  a  small 
moulding,  the  profile  of  which  is  an  arc  equal 
to,  or  greater  than,  a  semicircle. 

Billet  •  moulding'.  A  Romanic  orna- 
ment, consisting  of  a  moulding  so  cut  as  to 
resemble  a  series  of  short,  round  sticks, 
spaced  at'  regular  intervals. 

Bisect'ed  (barrel)  vault.  A  vault  with 
but  one  impost,  the  crown  of  which  abuts 
against  a  wall.  It  has  the  form  of  one  quar- 
ter of  a  cylinder,  divided  lengthwise. 

Blind'story.  A  term  applied  to  a  closed 
triforium, — in  contradistinction  to  the  open 
and  light  clerestory. 

Bol'tel.  An  upright  round  moulding ; 
particularly  a  round  shaft  engaged  to  a  clus- 
tered pillar.  So  called  from  its  resemblance 
to  the  shaft  of  an  arrow. 

Brass.  In  monumental  usage,  a  plate  of 
brass,  or  other  metallic  alloy,  inlaid  in  the 
stone  pavement  or  walls  of  a  church,  and 
having  engraved  upon  it  an  inscription,  effi- 
gy, armorial  bearing,  or  other  device  relating 
to  the  person  commemorated. 

Bnt'tress  (from  Fr.  bonter,  to  thrust).  A 
pier  engaged  to  a  wall  for  the  purpose  of  in- 
creasing its  strength  ;  chiefly  employed  as  an 
abutment. 

CaT)le  Mould  ins;.  A  round  moulding  or 
bead,  cut  in  imitation  of  the  twistings  of  a 
rope. 


Campanile'  (Ital. ;  from  campana,  a  bell, 
so  called  from  Campania,  a  province  of  Italy, 
where  bells  are  said  to  have  been  first  used 
in  churches).  A  bell-tower. 

Can'tilever  (derivation  uncertain,  perhaps 
from  Old  Fr.  cant,  angle,  and  /ever,  to  raise  ; 
Lat.  canterii  labrnm,  lip  of  rafter,  has  also 
been  suggested).  A  console  or  bracket  of 
great  projection,  used  to  support  eaves,  bal- 
conies, etc. ;  necessarily  of  wood  or  iron. 

Cen'trillg.  A  framework  of  wood,  em- 
ployed as  a  temporary  support  in  the  con- 
struction of  vaults  and  arches. 

Champleve  enam'el  (from  Fr.  champ, 
field,  and  levtr,  to  raise,  to  remove).  Enamel 
upon  an  indented  ground. 

Chan'cel  (Lat.  canceilns,  a  lattice).  Prop- 
erly speaking,  the  screen  or  railing  which 
separates  the  choir  from  the  body  of  the 
church  ;  in  ordinary  usage,  the  choir  itself. 

Chap  ter  •  house,  or  hall  (from  Lat.  ca- 
pitulum,  dim.  of  caput,  head).  The  building 
or  apartment  in  which  the  monks  or  canons 
of  a  monastic  establishment,  or  the  dignita- 
ries of  a  church,  meet  for  the  transaction  of 
business. 

Cliev'rou  (Fr. ;  from  chei're,  Lat.  capra,  a 
goat,  applied  to  rafters  and  to  the  bars  of  this 
decoration,  from  their  resemblance  to  rearing 
and  butting  goats).  A  zigzag  moulding,  pe- 
culiar to  the  Romanic  style. 

Clliaroscu'ro(Ital. ;  from  chiaro,  light,  and 
oscjiro,  dark).  A  term  applied  to  effects  of 
light  and  shade  in  painting. 

Choir  (Gr.  \opoq,  a  dance  in  a  ring,  a  cho- 
rus). In  its  literal  sense,  that  part  of  the 
church  fitted  up  for  the  singers ;  since  the 
Middle  Ages,  however,  the  word  has  come  to 
denote  the  enclosed  space  appropriated  to  the 
use  of  all  those  engaged  in  the  performance 
of  the  ecclesiastical  ceremonies  :  commonly 
the  extension  of  the  nave  upon  the  east  of 
the  transept. 

Cibo'rium  (Lat. ;  from  Gr.  iciflwpiov,  a  cup 
resembling  in  shape  the  seed-vessel  of  the 
Egyptian  bean).  A  receptacle  for  relics,  or 
for  the  pyx  ;  also  the  pyx  itself.  In  archi- 
tectural usage,  the  canopy  over  a  high-altar. 

Ciliqueceil  to  (Ital.  ;  from  It.  cinque,  five, 
and  cento,  hundred  ;  literally,  five  hundred, 
but  used  for  fifteen  hundred).  The  sixteenth 


GLOSSARY. 


713 


century,  a  word  particularly  employed  with  '  A  subterranean  vaulted  story  beneath  a  build- 
reference  to  the  civilization  and  style  preva-  '  ing,  particularly  beneath  a  church. 

Italy  at  that  time.  Cusp  (from  Lat.  cusfis,  a  point).     A  pro- 

CloiSOlin'e  enamel  (Fr. ;  from  doisonner,    jection  formed  by  the  intersection  of  two  foils 
to    partition).       An   enamel   partitioned   by    or  curves,  particularly  in  Gothic  tracery, 
threads  of  metal  soldered  upon  the  ground. 

Clois  ter  (from  Lat.  chiustrum,  an  enclos- 
ure, from  claudo,  to  shut).  In  architectural 
usage,  arcades  arranged  around  three  or  four 
sides  of  a  quadrangular  area,  forming  the  in- 
ner court  of  a  monastery  or  collegiate  estab- 
lishment. 

Columba'rium  (Lat. ;  a  pigeon-house).  A 
small  recess  in  the  wall  of  a  catacomb  or  oth- 
er sepulchral  chamber,  intended  to  receive  an 
urn  containing  the  ashes  of  the  deceased.  So 
called  from  its  resemblance  to  a  pigeon-hole,  stone  much  used  in  inlaying;  Low  Lat.  dia- 

Compart  ment.  In  special  architectural  sprits,  a  fine  colored  cloth).  A  surface  deco- 
significance,  the  space  covered  by  one  cross, 
or  composite  vault,  whether  bordered  at  the 
side  by  two  or  by  a  greater  number  of  sup- 
ports. In  a  general  sense,  any  surface  bor- 
dered by  architectural  members. 

Conch  (from  Gr.  Koyxn,  a  marine  shell). 
The  semidome  of  an  apse. 

Con'sole  (Fr. ;  from  Lat.  con,  with,  and 
sublevo,  to  lift  up).  A  bracket ;  particularly 
one  having  for  its  outline  a  curve  of  contrary 
flexure. 

Cor'bel  (Old  Fr.,  Ital.,  and  Low  Lat.  cor- 
bella,  from  Lat.  corlns,  basket).  A  term  pe- 


Damaskeen'  (from  Fr.  damasqniner).  A 
surface  ornamentation  of  a  metal,  particular- 
ly iron,  consisting  of  an  incrustation  of  an- 
other metal,  as  gold  or  silver.  So  called  from 
the  city  of  Damascus,  where  the  art  was  chief- 
ly practised. 

Diagonal  rib.  A  rib  crossing  the  com- 
partment of  a  vault  from  opposite  angles. 

Di'aper  (Fr.  diapre,  diaprer,  to  variegate,  to 
diversify  with  figures  ;  Ital.  diuspro,  jasper,  a 


culiar  to  mediaeval  architecture,  denoting  a 
stone  or  end  of  timber,  projecting  from  the 
vertical  face  of  a  wall  as  a  bracket. 

Cor'bel-table.  A  projecting  cornice  or 
parapet,  supported  upon  a  series  of  corbels. 

Cramp.  In  architectural  usage,  an  iron, 
both  ends  of  which  are  bent  to  a  right  angle; 
used  to  fasten  stones  together. 

Cre'liel  (Old  Fr. ;  from  Lat.  cretta,  a  notch). 
An  open  space  between  two  upright  piers  of 
a  battlement. 


ration  consisting  of  the  repetition  of  any  pat- 
tern in  small  compartments  of  the  same  shape, 
usually  square. 

Diptych  (Gr.  oiTrrw^oc,  from  Sig,  twice, 
and  iTTvoffia,  to  fold).  Folding-tablets  of  two 
leaves, — whether  of  ivory,  overlaid  on  the  in- 
ner side  with  wax  as  writing  -  tablets,  or  of 
panels  of  painted  wood,  as  altar-pieces. 

Discharging  arch.  An  arch  turned  in 
the  body  of  a  wall,  to  relieve  a  lintel  or  any 
part  of  the  masonry  below  it  from  a  part  of 
the  superincumbent  weight. 

Dor'mer  (from  Lat.  dormio,  to  sleep ;  lit- 
erally, the  window  of  a  sleeping-room).  A 
window  pierced  through  a  sloping  roof,  and 
framed  by  a  small  independent  structure 
which  rises  vertically  from  the  inclined  sur- 
face. 

Dor'sel  (from  Lat.  dorsitin,  back).  A  hang- 
ing of  tapestry  upon  the  walls  of  a  hall  or  of 
the  choir  of  a  church.  So  called  from  being 
placed  behind  the  seats  or  choir  stalls. 

Dow'el  (Fr.  douille ;  late  Lat.  ductile,  from 
dnco,  to  lead).  A  pin  of  wood  or  iron,  em- 


Crocket  (from  Fr.  crochet,  dim.  of  croc,  a    ployed  to  unite  two  adjacent  blocks. 


hook).  A  projecting  leaf,  flower,  or  bunch 
of  foliage,  used  in  Gothic  architecture  to  dec- 
orate the  inclined  angles  of  spires,  pinnacles, 
gables,  etc. 

Cross-Tault.  A  vault  above  a  square 
plan,  formed  by  the  intersection  of  two  bar- 
rel-vaults. 


Drum.  In  architectural  usage,  the  verti- 
cal walls,  of  circular  plan,  which  support  a 
dome.  The  term  is  also  applied  to  the  sep- 
arate, cylindrical  stones  which  form  the  shaft 
of  a  column. 

Embras'ure  (Fr. ;   from  braser,  to  slope 


Crypt  (Gr.  KpvTrrri,  from  icpvjrrw,  to  hide),    the  edges  of  an  opening).    A  narrow  opening 


GLOSSARY. 


in  the  wall  or  parapet  of  a  fortification,  splay- 
ed for  the  purpose  of  facilitating  the  discharge 
of  a  missile  ;  a  crenel. 

Engaged'  column.  A  term  applied  to  a 
shaft,  in  plan  an  arc  less  than  a  full  circle, 
which  adjoins  the  surface  of  a  wall  or  pier. 

Extm'dos  (from  Lat.  extra,  without,  and 
t/orsum,  back).  The  exterior  or  back  of  an 
arch,  the  top  of  the  voussoirs,  as  opposed  to 
the  inner  surface,  which  is  known  as  the  sof- 
fit or  intrados. 

Fan-vaulting.  A  kind  of  vaulting  in 
which  a  number  of  ribs,  rising  from  one  im- 
post point,  have  the  same  curve,  and  diverge 
equally  in  every  direction. 

Fin'ial  (from  \.z.t.finio,  to  end).  A  knob 
of  foliage,  or  other  ornament,  employed  as  the 
termination  of  a  spire  or  pinnacle. 

Fly'ing  buttress.  A  support  having  the 
form  of  a  rampant  arch,  and  serving  to  trans- 
mit the  thrust  of  a  vault  or  dome  to  a  buttress 
or  other  abutment. 

Foil  (from  Lat.  folium,  a  leaf;  hence,  tre- 
foil, quatrifoil,  cinquefoil,  multifoil,  etc.).  The 
small  arcs  or  other  curves  in  the  tracery  of 
Gothic  architecture. 

Folia'tion  (Lai.foliatio,  homfolhtm,  leaf). 
An  arrangement  of  small  arcs,  or  foils,  sepa- 
rated by  projecting  points,  or  cusps,  chiefly 
employed  among  the  ornaments  of  Gothic 
tracery. 

For'meret  (Fr. ;  from  Lat.  forma,  form). 
In  the  groining  of  Gothic  vaults  that  rib 
which,  in  its  entire  length,  adjoins  the  wall. 

Fret  (Anglo-Saxon/;^/,  ornament,  or  Fr. 
freter,  to  interlace).  An  ornament  formed  by 
a  series  of  intersecting  straight  lines,  general- 
ly at  right  angles. 

Front'al  (Lat.  frontale,  from  from,  the 
brow).  An  antependium,  which  see. 

Ga'blet.  A  small  ornamental  gable,  form- 
ed over  a  portal,  tabernacle,  buttress,  etc. 

Oona'che  (Fr. ;  from  Lat.  vadum,  shoal, 
wash,  through  \\.z\.  guazzo).  A  kind  of  paint- 
ing in  body  colors,  the  medium  being  water 
and  thick  gum,  with  the  occasional  addition 
of  honey. 

Groin  (Icel.  greitm,  to  branch  or  fork  off ; 
Dan.  green  ;  Swed.  gren,  a  branch).  In  ar- 


chitectural usage,  the  angle  formed  by  the  in- 
tersection of  vault  surfaces. 

Guil'loche  (said  by  Littre  and  others  to 
be  from  the  name  Guillot,  or  Guilloche,  of  a 
workman  who  was  the  first  to  employ  the  pat- 
tern in  modern  times  ;  according  to  Worces- 
ter, Fr.,  from  Gr.  yvlov,  a  limb,  and  Xfi^of, 
ambush,  for  which  he  gives  the  incorrect  and 
misleading  translation,  "  snare  ").  A  classi- 
cal ornament  consisting  of  two  or  more  fillets 
intertwined  in  a  wavy  line,  so  as  to  form  a 
continuous  band,  and  leave  between  them  a 
series  of  small  circles. 

Hau'telisse  (Fr.  highwarp,  from  Lat.  lici- 
um,  thread,  warp).  Tapestry  wrought  with 
an  upright  warp. 

Hip.  In  architectural  usage,  an  external 
angle  formed  by  the  intersection  of  two  slop- 
ing roof-surfaces,  the  wall-plates  of  which  run 
in  different  directions. 

Illl'post  (from  Lat.  impono,  to  lay  upon). 
That  cornice,  course  of  wall  masonry,  brack- 
et, or  block  upon  which  rest  the  lower  stones 
of  an  arch  or  vault. 

lll'trados  (from  Lat.  infra,  within,  and  dor- 
sum,  back ;  many  lexicographers  refer  the 
word  to  the  Spanish  intrados,  an  entrance). 
The  under  inner  surface  or  soffit  of  an  arch, 
as  opposed  to  extrados. 

Lan'tern.  In  architectural  usage,  a  small 
structure  with  apertures  for  the  admission  of 
light,  surmounting  a  dome  or  vaulted  com- 
partment. 

Lec'tern  (Low  Lat.  lectrimim,  from  lego, 
to  read).  A  desk  or  stand  upon  which  are 
placed  the  large  books  read  in  the  services 
of  the  church. 

Lin'tel  (Old  Fr.  ;  from  Low  Lat.  lintellu.t, 
limitelhts,  dim.  of  limes,  boundary,  perhaps 
through  confusion  with  limen,  threshold).  A 
horizontal  beam  of  timber  or  stone  placed 
above  an  opening  in  a  wall,  or  an  intercolum- 
niation. 

Log'gia  (Ital. ;  from  Low  Lat.  lobia,  a  gal- 
lery, formed  from  Old  High  Germ,  louba; 
Germ.  Laube,  arbor).  A  covered  space  in  a 
building,  one  or  more  of  the  sides  of  which 
are  open  to  the  air  by  colonnades  or  arcades. 


GLOSSARY. 


715 


A  term  generally  restricted  to  civic  and  es-  ]  were  admitted  ;  generally  separated  from  the 


pecially  palatial  architecture. 

Lou'ver  (Old   Fr.  I'onverl,  from    ouvrir ; 
Lat.  aperire,  to  open).     A  small  lantern  or 


rest  of  the  building  by  an  arcade  or  screen. 

Nave  (Old  Fr.,  Ital.,  and  Span.,  literally 
ship  ;   Lat.  navis  ;  in  German,  technical  use 


turret  surmounting  the  roof  of  a  hall  or  other    exactly  rendered  by  Sc/iiff).     The  central  di- 
apartment,  with  openings  for  ventilation.  vision  of  the  body  of  a  church,  extending, 

Lou' ver- boards.     A  series  of  horizontal    upon  the  west  of  the  choir,  from  the  chancel 


slabs  slanting  outward,  so  as  to  admit  air    to  the  main  entrance. 

Niello  (Ital.  from  late  Lat. nigellum,  black 
enamel,  from  nigellns,  dim.  of  niger,  black).  A 
method  of  ornamenting  metallic  surfaces  by 


but  exclude  rain,  placed  in  the  windows  of 
louvers,  belfries,  drying-lofts,  etc. 

Lunette'    Fr. ;  dim.  of  Lat.  luna,  moon). 

A  subsidiary  vault  intersecting  wiih  a  main    engraving  upon  them  lines  which  are  subse- 
vault  or  dome,  and  having  its  crown  upon  a    quently  filled  in  with  a  black  composition, 
lower  level.     Such  is,  for  instance,  the  vault        Nog'ging  (related  to  Dan.  knag,  a  peg  of 
leading  from  a  main  compartment  to  a  verti-    wood;  Dutch, knog, a  yard-arm).    A  construc- 
cal  window  opening,  or  to  a  low  wall-arch.  So    tion  in  which  brick  or  light  rubble  masonry  is 


called  from  the  crescent  shape  of  the  groin. 

Machicola'tioil     (Fr.    mdchicouHs,    from 
ni&che,  melted  matter,  and  conler,  to  flow). 


laid  between  the  timbers  of  a  wooden  fram- 
ing- 

Oast  (Anglo-Sax,  asf,  a  kiln).     A  kiln  for 


An  opening  at  the  top  of  a  fortification  wall    drying  hops. 


or  tower,  formed  by  projecting  the  parapet 
upon    corbels,  and  leaving  openings  in  the 
soffit  of  the  cornice  or  arched  table, 
the  projecting  cornice  thus  formed. 

Merlon  (Fr.  merla ;  Ital.  merlo,  from 
diminutive  form  of  murus,  wall), 
piers  of  masonry  which  form  a 
and  have  between  them  the  open  spaces  or 
crenels. 

Modil'lion  (Fr.  modilhn,  from  Lat.  modu- 
lus, dim.  of  modus,  measure.  So  called  from 
their  regular  spacing).  A  small  console  em- 


O'riel  (Old  Fr.  oriol,  a  porch,  a  gallery ; 
Low  Lat.  oriohtm.     Etymology  doubtful,  pos- 
Hence    siblyfrom  Lat.  aureolum,  gilded,  aurum,  gold; 
others  suggest  the  Anglo-Sax,  ofer-hdan,  to 
cover  over ;  others  derive  it  from  Lat.  aurnm, 
One  of  the    the  ear ;  others  still  suppose  it  to  be  derived 
battlement,    from  oriens,  the  East).     A  window  projecting 
from  an  upper  story,  and  supported,  not  upon 
the  ground,  as  a  bay,  but  upon  brackets. 

Peildentlre  {fr.pendentif,  from  Lat./<?«- 
deo,  to  hang).    A  triangular  curved  surface  of 


ployed  as  a  support  beneath  the  corona  of    a  domed  ceiling,  situated  in  the  corner  of  a 


classic  Roman  cornices. 


building  of  straight- lined  plan,  between  the 


Mullion   (corrupted   from   early   English    extrados  and  below  the  crowns  of  the  main 

arches.  In  Gothic  architecture,  that  portion 
of  a  groined  vault  supported  by  one  pillar  or 
impost,  and  bordered  by  longitudinal  and 


111  minion ;  Fr.  moigiioit,  stump,  blunt  end; 
Lat.  mancns,  stump  of  an  arm  or  leg  cut  off. 
Wedgwood  remarks  that  the  mullion  took  its 


name  from  having  been  regarded  as  a  stump    transverse  ribs. 

of  the  dividing  shaft  which  breaks  up  into  Pinnacle  (Fr.  fiitacle,  Low  Lat.  pinnacu- 
the  tracery  of  the  upper  part  of  the  window.  //.•/«,  from  pinna,  feather).  A  slender  subsid- 
The  explanation  and  etymology  are  alike  open  iary  spire  rising  above  the  adjacent  parts  of 

the  building. 

Pres'bytery  (Gr.  Trptafivrkpiov,  from  irpta- 


to  question).  A  slender  upright  shaft,  form- 
ing a  division  between  the  openings  of  Gothic 
windows,  screens,  etc. 


I  fivg,  an  old  and  reverend  man.     The  word 
priest  is  from  the  same  root).     That  part  of 
Nar'tliex  (Gr.  vc'tpOriK,  a  casket,  a  shrine),    the  church  occupied  exclusively  by  those  en- 


A  vestibule  or  porch  within  the  early  Chris- 
tian church,  in  which  catechisms  were  repeat- 


gaged  in  the  performance   of  the   religious 
service,  comprising  the  choir  and  in  some 


ed,  and  to  which  catechumens  and  penitents    cases  the  adjacent  portions  of  the  building. 


7i6 


GLOSSARY. 


Pur'lin  (etymology  uncertain,  perhaps 
from  Fr.  par,  through,  and  ligne,  line).  A 
horizontal  timber  resting  upon  the  main  raf- 
ters of  a  roof. 

Quattrocen'to  (Ital. ;  from  quattro,  four, 
and  cento,  hundred ;  literally,  four  hundred, 
but  used  for  fourteen  hundred).  The  fifteenth 
century.  Compare  Cinqtiecento. 

Quoin  (Fr.  coin,  a  wedge,  a  corner;  from 
Lat.  cunetts,  wedge).  A  term  applied  to  any 
external  solid  angle  of  a  building,  particular- 
ly to  the  projection  formed  by  ashlar  stones, 
with  faces  raised  from  the  surface  of  the  wall, 
which  are  employed  at  the  corners  to  strength- 
en the  masonry. 

Ram'pant  (from  Fr.  ramper,  to  creep,  to 
climb;  from  a  middle  High  Germ,  root,  Bav. 
ramffen,  to  spring,  to  snatch).  May,  in  ar- 
chitectural usage,  be  applied  to  an  arch  or 
vault  whose  impost  and  abutment  are  not  on 
the  same  level. 

Relieving  arch.     See  Discharging  arch. 

Rere'dos  (Fr.  arriere-dos,  from  arriere, 
behind,  and  Jos,  Lat.  dorsum,  back).  In 
Gothic  architecture,  a  screen  placed  behind 
the  altar. 

Retic'ulated  vault  (from  Lat.  reticnlnm, 
dim.  of  rete,  net).  A  Gothic  vault,  the  com- 
plicated ribs  of  which  resemble  a  geometrical 
net-work. 

Rib.  In  architectural  usage,  a  projecting 
moulding  following  the  line  of  any  groin,  or 
the  intersection  of  vaulted  surfaces. 

Rood  (Anglo-Sax,  rdd,  beam,  cross;  Lat. 
rudis,  wand,  from  Sanscr.  ridh,  to  grow).  A 
cross,  crucifix,  or  figure  of  Christ ;  especially 
a  crucifix  placed  at  the  entrance  to  the  choir 
in  mediaeval  churches. 

Rood'-beam, — rood-loft.  A  transverse 
beam  or  gallery  upon  which  the  rood  is 
placed  ;  generally  situated  at  the  juncture  of 
the  nave  and  choir  above  the  chancel  screen. 

Rood'  •  tower,  rood  •  steeple.  Terms 
applied  to  the  tower  or  steeple  erected  above 
the  intersection  of  transept  and  nave  in  a  cru- 
ciform church. 

Rose'-window.  A  circular  window  di- 
vided into  compartments  by  radial  bars  or 
tracery. 


Rub'ble(from  rub).  Coarse  masonry  con- 
structed of  small  unhewn  stones  set  in  thick 
mortar. 

Sgraffit'to  (Ital.  scratched).  An  ornament 
produced  by  scratching  lines  through  a  thin 
coating  of  plaster,  or  tinted  wash,  so  as  to 
reveal  the  contrasting  color  of  a  prepared 
ground. 

Spail'drel  (apparently  unconnected  with 
span  ;  recent  form  of  splaundrel,  from  Old 
Fr.  esplanader,  to  level  ;  Lat.  explanare,  from 
ex  and  plaints,  plain,  level).  The  space  of  ir- 
regular triangular  shape  between  the  extrados 
of  two  arches  and  a  horizontal  cornice  above 
their  crowns ;  or  between  the  extrados  of  an 
arch,  the  horizontal  cornice  above  its  crown, 
and  a  perpendicular  line  from  its  impost. 

Splay  (abbreviated  from  display).  A  bev- 
elled surface.  This  term  should  be  restricted 
to  the  jambs,  lintels,  and  sills  of  windows  or 
doors  which  are  slanted  for  the  purpose  of 
enlarging  the  aperture,  or  increasing  the  light 
passing  through  it. 

Squincll  (same  root  as  sconce ;  old  Fr. 
esconse,  a  screen,  shelter,  from  Lat.  abscondo, 
to  hide).  An  arch  of  stepped  projection,  em- 
ployed in  the  place  of  pendentives  to  support 
the  alternate  sides  of  an  octagon  formed  above 
a  square. 

Staff- work.     See  Billet-moulding. 

Stalac'tlte  vault.  A  vaulted  surface  dec- 
orated by  a  series  of  overhanging  projections, 
presenting  a  fanciful  resemblance  to  stalac- 
tites. 

Stellar  vault  (Lat.  stellaris,  from  stella,  a 
star).  A  Gothic  vault,  the  complicated  ribs 
of  which  resemble  the  geometrical  forms  of  a 
star. 

Stilted.  In  architectural  usage,  a  term 
applied  to  an  arch  or  vault,  the  curve  of 
which  does  not  begin  from  the  impost,  but  is 
elevated  upon  a  vertical  continuation  of  the 
intrados  and  archivolt  mouldings. 

String'  •  course.  A  narrow  horizontal 
plinth  or  band  of  projecting  mouldings. 

Sllpermuirions.  The  upright  bars,  or 
mullions,  above  the  commencement  of  the 
foliation  in  the  upper  part  of  a  Gothic  win- 
dow or  screen. 

Sur'based.     A  term  applied  to  an  arch  or 


GLOSSARY. 


717 


,  vault  of  which  the  height  of  the  curve  above 
the  level  of  the  impost  is  less  than  one-half 
its  span. 

Surmounted.  A  term  applied  to  an  arch 
or  vault  of  which  the  height  of  the  curve 
above  the  level  of  the  impost  is  greater  than 
one-half  its  span. 

Thrust.  In  special  architectural  signifi- 
cation, the  lateral  pressure  exercised  by  the 
stones  of  an  arch  or  vault. 

Trac'ery  (from  Fr.  tracer  ;  Low  Lat.  trac- 
tiare  ;  Lat.  traho,  to  trace).  The  ornamental 
open-work  of  curved  and  intersecting  lines  in 
Gothic  windows,  screens,  etc. 

Tran'sept  (from  Lat.  trans,  across,  and 
septum  t  enclosure).  The  transverse  portion 
of  a  cruciform  church  forming  the  division 
between  the  nave  and  the  choir.  Any  part 
of  a  church  projecting  at  right  angles  from 
the  body,  and  equal,  or  nearly  equal,  to  it  in 
height. 

Tre'cento  (Ital. ;  from  tre,  three,  and  cen- 
to, hundred ;  literally,  three  hundred,  but 
used  for  thirteen  hundred).  The  fourteenth 
century.  Compare  Cinquecento. 

Trifo'rium  (Lat.  ;  from  tres.  three,  and 
fort's,  door,  so  called  from  the  openings  hav- 


ing at  first  been  combined  in  groups  of  three). 
A  gallery  or  passage-way  above  the  vaulting 
of  the  side  aisles  of  a  church,  opening  towards 
the  main  aisle  through  arcades  or  windows. 
Hence,  also,  the  blind  arcades  or  tracery  be- 
neath the  clerestory  windows,  which  occasion- 
ally took  the  place  of  these  openings. 

Trip'tych  (Gr.  rpiirrvxoe,  from  rp/e, 
thrice,  and  irrvaaw,  to  fold).  Folding-tablets 
of  three  leaves, — whether  of  ivory,  overlaid 
on  the  inner  side  with  wax,  as  writing-tablets, 
or  of  panels  of  painted  wood,  as  altar-pieces. 

Yault'ing-post,  or  shaft.  A  small  en- 
gaged shaft  which  supports  the  ribs  of  a 
vault ;  generally  a  boltel  resting  upon  a  cor- 
bel or  other  projection. 

Yons'soir  (Fr. ;  from  vousser,  to  arch  ; 
Lat.  volvo,  to  roll,  to  vault).  A  stone  shaped 
like  a  truncated  wedge,  forming  part  of  an 
arch  or  vault.  The  central  uppermost  vous- 
soir  is  termed  a  key-stone ;  the  lowest,  ad- 
joining the  impost,  a  springer. 

Wall-arch.  That  portion  of  a  vertical 
wall,  —  of  round  or  pointed  -  arch  shape, — 
which  rises  above  the  imposts  of  a  cross- 
vault,  lunette,  or  Gothic  compartment. 


INDEX   OF  ARTISTS. 


Adeodatus,  465. 

Agostino,  639. 

Alberti,  574. 

Albertus,  Master,  of  Lau- 
sanne, 471. 

Alcuin,  246,  247. 

Al  Kitami,  199. 

Aloisio,  70. 

Aloisius,  204. 

Altichiero  da  Zevio,  668 
(Fig.  407). 

Andrea  da  Firenze,  667. 

Angelo,  639. 

Angilbert,  223. 

Anns,  Guillaume,  606. 

Ansegius,  217,  223,  240. 

Antelamus,  Benedictus,  466. 

Anthemios  of  Tralles,  57. 

Antonio  Veneziano,  667. 

Arnold,  Master,  548. 

Arnolfo  di  Cambio.  See 
Cambio. 

Avanzi,  Jacopo,  668  (Fig, 
407). 

Avanzo,  Leonardo  di,  641. 

Baerze,  Jacob  de,  604. 
Balduccio,  Giovanni  di,  640. 
Balduino,  Pagano,  468. 
Barisanus  of  Trani,  471. 
Barna,  671. 

Barnaba  of  Modena,  668. 
Bartolo,  Taddeo  di,  674. 
Bartolommeo,  Niccolo  di, 

639- 

Bassalectus.    See  Vasscilittus. 
Beauneveu,  Andre,  604,  654. 
Beringar,  Monk,  249. 
Beringer,  Master,  449. 
Biduinus,  466. 
Bocholt,  Franz,  697. 
Bonannus,  Master,  471. 
Bonaventura,  Niccolo,  578. 
Bonino  di  Campiglione,  640. 
Bonneuil,  Etienne  de,  592. 
Bonus  Amicus,  466. 
Bouts,  Dierik,  707. 
Broederlam,    Melchior,  604, 

699. 
Brueggemann,  H.,  626. 


Brun.  of  Fulda,  244. 
Buffalmaco,  667. 

Camaino,  Tino  di,  638,  641. 
Cambio,  Arnolfo  di,  570,576, 

635,  638. 
Campello,    Philip   de.      See 

Philip. 
Campiglione,  Bonino  di.  See 

Bonino. 

Campin,  Robert,  700. 
Campis,  Jean  de,  500. 
Campomosi,  John,  578. 
Casentino,  Jacopo  di,  667. 
Cavallini,  Pietro,  663. 
Cierino,  Niccolo    di    Pietro, 

667. 
Cimabue,  Giovanni,  428, 429, 

660,  673  (Fig.  408). 
Clone,    Andrea.       See    Or- 

cagna. 

Cione,  the  elder,  642. 
Clussenbach,  Georg  von,  621. 
Clussenbach,     Martin     von, 

621. 

Conrad  of  Scheyern,  422. 
Cormont,  Thomas  de,  498. 
Cornicke,  Jehan  de,  606. 
Cosmas,  of  Rome,  324. 
Coucy,  Robert  de,  498. 
Cova,  James,  578. 
Cristofani,  Buonamico.     See 

Buffalmaco. 
Cristus,  Petrus,  704,  705. 

Daddo,    Bernardo    di,    667, 

°73- 

Dalmasio,  Lippo  di,  668. 
Daniel,  204,  233. 
David,  Gerard,  708. 
Death  of  the  Virgin,  Master 

of,  687. 

Dichter,  .Michael,  629. 
Dietrich,  Master,  684. 
Dionysios  of  Fourna-Agra- 

pha,  99. 

Drogues,  Jehan  de,  606. 
Duccio  du  Buoninsegna,66o, 

673- 
Dunstan,  St.,  438. 


Eckart,  Master,  620. 
Eginhard,  217,  240. 
Eilbert  of  Cologne,  457. 
Eligius,  St.,  238. 
Ellinger,  Abbot  of    Tegern- 

see,  417. 

Eudes  of  Montreux,  498. 
Eustathius,  102. 
Eyck,  Hubert  van,  700-703 

(Figs.  420,  421). 
Eyck,  Jan  van,  700-704 (Figs. 

420,  421,  422). 

Fiesole,  672,  674. 
Fioravanti,  Ridolfo,  69. 
Folchard,  249. 
Fouquet,  Jean,  656,  657  (Fig. 

403). 

Franck,  Juan,  585. 
Franco,  675. 
Fredi,  Bartolo  di,  671. 
Fuessingen,    Master    Ulrich 

of.     See  Ulrich. 
Fuetterer,  Ulrich,  694. 
Furtmeyer,  Berthold,  695. 

Gaddi,  Angelo,  667. 

Gaddi,  Gaddo,  428. 

Gaddi,  Taddeo,  576,666,673. 

Gallardus,  638. 

Gerrit  Tot  S.  Jans,  706. 

Gherwiges,  Hinrik,  629. 

Giottino,  667. 

Giotto,  575,   576,  638,  639, 

641,  661  (Figs.  396,  405, 

406). 
Giovanni,    Cosmatic     artist, 

638. 

Giovanni  da  Milano,  667. 
Girauldus,  475. 
Gislebertus,  476. 
Gmuend,  Master  Henry  of. 

See  Henry. 
Godescalc,  246. 
Goes,  Hugo  van  der,  705. 
Gottfried  of  Corvey,  449. 
Gratz,  John  of.     See  John. 
Graziani.     See  Guii/o. 
Groven,  Laurens,  630. 
Gruamons,  465. 


720 


INDEX   OF  ARTISTS. 


Gruden,  Nicholas,  630. 
Guariento,  668. 
Gugliemo  d'Agnello,  638. 
Guido  da  Cotno,  467. 
Guido  of  Corneto,  323. 
Guido  of  Siena,  660. 
Guillaume  de  Sens,  522,  524. 
Gundulphus   of    Caen,   380, 
385,  388. 

Hans  der  Steinmeissel,  627. 
Hedin,  Jaquemart,  654. 
Heinrich  der  Balier,  662. 
Hennequin,  603. 
Hennequin  of  Brussels,  604. 
Henricus  Gustos,  457. 
Henry  of  Gmuend,  578. 
Heribertus,  413. 
Heriman  of  Helmershausen, 

418. 

Herlin,  Friedrich,  624,  693. 
Hermann,  Master  of  Cologne, 

604. 

Hildebertus,  422. 
Holbein,    Hans,   the    elder, 

691. 
Holy  Companionship,  Master 

of  the,  687. 

Honnecourt,  Villard  de,  498. 
Horebout,  Gerard,  709. 
Huber,  Joerg,  626. 
Hueltz,  John,  554. 
Hugo  li  Bergier,  498. 

Ibn  Aziz,  198. 
Ingebramus,  498. 
Ingobert,  249. 
Ise'nmann,  Casper,  690. 
Isidores  of  Miletos,  57. 
Israel  von  Meckenen,  697. 

Jacobus,  428. 

Jacobus  de  Merania,567,57O. 

Jacobus  of  Rome,  323. 

Jacopo,  Fra,  659. 

Jan  Joseb,  603. 

Jehan  le  Bouteiller,  600. 

Joan,  603. 

John,  Master,  548. 

John  of  Bruges,  654. 

John  of  Gratz,  578. 

Jost  van  Gent,  705. 

Juncker,  Brothers,  554,  560. 

Kaltenhof,  Peter,  691. 
Kassir,  198. 
Keraldus,  413. 
Kitami.     See  Al  Kitami. 
Kraft,  Adam,  628. 
Kyrillos  of  Chios,  99. 

Lanfrancus,  380,  385. 


Lanfrani,  640. 

Lathem,  Lievin  van,  709. 

Laurentius  of  Rome,  323. 

Lerch,  Nicholas,  627,  629. 

Liesborn,  Master  of,  687. 

Lippi,  Filippo,  673. 

Liuthard,  Monk,  249. 

Lochner,  Stephen,  685  (Fig. 
416). 

Lorenzetti,  Pietro  di  Loren- 
zo, 670,  674. 

Lorenzo,  Ambrogio  di,  670. 

Lorenzo  da  Firenze,  667. 

Lusarches,  Robert  de,  498. 

Lyversberg    Passion,  Master 
of,  687. 

Madalulfus  of  Fontanellum, 

244. 
Maechselkircher,       Gabriel, 

694. 

Margaritone  of  Arezzo,  659. 
Marmion,  Simon,  708. 
Martino,  Donate  di,  670. 
Martino.Simone  di,  669,670, 

673-675  (fig-  408). 
Maso  di  Banco,  667. 
Masolino,  671,  675. 
Matthew  of  Arras,  551,  560. 
Meire,    Gerard      van      der, 

70S- 

Memling,  Hans,  707,  708. 
Memmi,  Lippo,  670,  674. 
Menneville,  Jean  de,  604. 
Merania,  Jacobus  de.  See 

Jacohits. 

Mignoth,  Jean,  578. 
Mino,  Taddeo  di  Bartolo  di, 

671. 

Montereau,  Peter  of,  498. 
Moser,  Lucas,  624,  690. 
Mourturier,  Antoine  de,  600. 
Mutina,  Tommaso  da.     See 

Tommaso. 

Nichasius,  Jean,  654. 
Nicola  da  Bologna,  675. 
Nicolas  of  Strasburg,  684. 
Nicolaus,  Joannis,  423. 
Nicolaus,  Master,  465. 
Nicolaus  of  Rome,  323. 
Nicolaus  of  Verdun,  457. 
Notker  Balbulus,  249. 
Notker  Labeo,  420. 

Oderigi  da  Gubbio,  675. 
Oderisio,  Roberto  di,  668. 
Oderisius  of  Benevento,  470. 
Odo,  Master,  217. 
Ognabene,  Andrea  di  Jacopo, 

642. 
Olmdorf,  Hans,  694. 


Orcagna,  575,  576,  639,  667, 

673- 

Otto,  Monk,  249. 
Ouwater,  Albert,  706. 

Pacher,  Michael,  of  Bruneck, 

625. 

Patras,  Lambert,  478. 
Paul  of  Limburg,  654. 
Paulus,  Marmorarius,  323. 
Paulus,  380. 
Peregrinus,  469. 
Peter  of  Gmuend,  551. 
Petrus,  Master  of  Lausanne, 

471. 

Philip  de  Campello,  570. 
Piero  Florentine,  642. 
Pisano,    Andrea,    639,     641 

(Fig.  396). 
Pisano,  Giglio,  642. 
Pisano,  Giovanni,   570,  575, 

576,  579.  635-638  (Figs. 
.394,  395)- 
Pisano,    Giunta,    429,    430, 

.659- 
Pisano,    Niccolo,    469,    570, 

575,  632-635  (Fig.  393). 
Pisano,  Nino,  639. 
Pisano,  Tommaso,  639. 
Pleydenwurff,  Hans,  688. 
Prindale,  Hennequin,  604. 
Puccio,  Pietro,  667. 

Rabula,  from  Zagba,  96. 
Radolf,  364. 

Raimond  du  Temple,  517. 
Ramus,  Master,  635. 
Raoul  d'Orleans,  654. 
Ratgar,  Abbot,  224. 
Ravy,  Master,  600. 
Renaud,  Master,  498. 
Riel,  Gerhard  von,  547. 
Riemenschneider,    Tilmann, 

629. 

Riquinus,  Master,  453. 
Ristoro,  Fra,  576. 
Robertus,  Master,  466. 
Rogerius  of  Amalfi,  470. 
Rogier  van  der  Weyden.  See 

Weyden. 

Roritzer,  Matthew,  560. 
Rubeus,  Magister,  641. 
Rubleff ,  M  aster  Andreas,  117. 
Rughesee,  Nicholas,  630. 
Rusuti,  Filippo,  663. 

Sabina,  614  (Fig.  384). 

St.  Bartholomew,  Master  of, 

687. 

St.  Severinus,  Master  of,  687. 
Salomo,  Abbot,  249. 
Schongauer,  Ludwig,  697. 


INDEX   OF   ARTISTS. 


721 


Schongauer,  Martin, 690,691, 

697. 

Schonhofer,  Sebald,  615. 
Schuechlin,  Hans,  624,  691. 
Scolari,  Filippo,  671. 
Ser  Giovannia,  Lionardo,  642. 
Seront,Wuillequin,  604. 
Silvestro,  Fra,  675. 
Simone    di    Martino.       See 

Martina. 
Sintram,  249. 
Sisto,  Fra,  570. 
Sluter   de   Orlandes,  Claux, 

604-606  (Fig.  381). 
Solsernus,  659. 
Spmello  Aretino,  667. 
Stamina,  Gherardo,  667, 668, 

671,675. 
Stefano,  Giotto  di.     See  Gi- 

otlino. 

Stefano,  Maestro,  667. 
Steinbach,  Erwin    von,  546, 

553-  [««'• 

Stephen,  Master.     See  Loch- 


Stoss.Veit,  626. 
Striegel,  Bernhard,  691. 
Suger,  Abbot,  485,  489. 
Syrlin,  Joerg,  the  elder,  624, 

627. 
Syrlin,  Joerg,  the    younger, 

625. 

Tafi,  Andrea,  428,  659. 
Tommaso   da   Mutina,  668, 

674,   675,  679,   684  (.Fig. 

409). 

Torell,  William,  609. 
Torriti,  Jacopo,  663. 
Traini,  Francesco,  667. 
Traut,  Hans,  689. 
Tutilo,  240,  241,  249  (Fig. 

129). 

Ulrich  of  Fuessingen,  578. 

Vanni,  Andrea,  671. 
Vassalittus,  324. 
Verta,  Jehan  de  la,  606. 

46 


Vicenzo,  Antonio  di,  577. 
Vischer,  Hermann,  630  (Fig. 

391)- 

Vischer,  Peter,  630  (Fig.  392). 
Vitale,  668. 

Volterra,  Francesco  da,  667. 
Vousonne.Thierrion,  604. 

Wenzel  of  Olmuetz,  698. 
Werne,  Claux  de,  604. 
Weyden,    Rogier    van    der, 

70S- 

Wilhelmus,  Master,  465. 
William,  Master  of  Cologne, 

678. 

Winichis,  324. 
Wolfcoz,  249. 
Wolgemut,  Michael, 624,625, 

688-690  (Fig.  417). 
Wolvinius,  Master,  114,  240. 
Wurmser,  Nicolaus,  680. 

Zeitblom,  Bartholomew,  691 
(Fig.  418). 


INDEX   OF    PLACES. 


AARHUUS : 

Church,  394. 
ABU,  MOUNT: 

Vimala  Sah,  173. 
AGRA: 

Mohammedan     buildings, 

176. 
AHLEN  • 

Church,  paintings,  405. 
AHMEDABAD  : 

Mosque,  173,  175. 
Aix : 

Carved  sarcophagi,  log. 

St.  Sauveur,  346. 

AlX-LA-CHAPELLE  : 

Evangeliarium  of  Lothair, 

249. 

Grashaus,  563. 
M inster,  2 1 7-2 20  (Fig.  1 1 3). 

—  Ambo,  456  (Fig.  278). 

—  Antependium,  454. 

—  Bronze  gates,  239. 

—  Chandelier,  460. 

—  Crucifix    of    Lothair, 

459- 

—  Mosaic,  244. 

—  Shrine  above  corona- 
tion altar,  457. 

—  Shrine      of      Charle- 
magne, 457  (Fig.  279). 

Palace,  217,  220,  221,  245. 
-  Paintings,  244. 

Statue  of  Theodoric,  233. 
AJANTA : 

Grottos,     136,     138,    139, 
140,   142  (Figs.  77,  78, 
a  and  c,  and  79^). 
AJMIR: 

Mosque,  173  (Fig.  91). 
AKER  : 

Basilica,  396. 
ALBA  FUCESE  : 

Church,  carved  door,  471. 
ALBELDA : 

Codex,  437. 
ALBY  : 

Cathedral,  502,  585  (Fig. 

307)- 
ALEXANDRIA: 

Catacombs,  13  (Fig.  8). 
Church  of  St.  Mark,  60. 


ALFUASTER  -. 

Basilica,  396. 
ALICAMPS.     See  Aries. 
ALLAHABAD : 

Lat,  133.  [176. 

Mohammedan     buildings, 
ALMENNO : 

S.Tommaso,  313,  314  (Fig. 

185). 
ALPIRSBACH  : 

Church,  Romanic  capitals 

(Fig.  140). 
ALSLEBEN  : 

Convent,  298. 
ALSPACH  : 

Church,  280. 
ALTAMURA : 

S.  Maria  Assunta,  317, 334. 
ALTENAHR : 

Church,  275. 
ALTENBERG  : 

Cistercian  convent,  541. 

Ecclesiastical      buildings, 

213. 
ALTENKIRCHEN  : 

Church,  275. 
ALTENZELLE : 

Portal  (Fig.  150). 
ALTOMUENSTER: 

Convent,  213. 
AMALFI  :  [470. 

Church,  bronze  doors,  115, 

Convent  of  the  Capuchins, 

579- 
AMANABURG : 

Convent,  213. 
AMELUNXBORN : 

Church,  272. 
AMIENS  : 

Cathedral,  496,  498,  503, 
507,  508,  $i2(Figs.  310, 

SIS)- 

—  Glass  paintings,  650. 

—  Sculptures,    597,    599 
(Figs.  378,  379,  380). 

—  Tombs     of     bishops, 
603. 

AMMENSLEBEN  : 

Convent  church,  273. 
AMRAVATI  : 

Tope,  relief  (Fig.  82). 


ANAGRATUM  : 

Convent,  210. 
ANCONA : 

Carved  sarcophagi,  109. 
ANDERNACH  : 

Parish  church,  536. 
ANDLAU : 

Collegiate  church,  reliefs, 

441. 
ANGERS  : 

Cathedral,  glass  painting 
433- 

St.  Maurice,  501. 
ANGOULEME : 

Cathedral,  357  (Fig.  216). 

—  Fafade        sculptures, 
474- 

ANI: 

Cathedral,  65  (Fig.  37). 
ANTIOCH  : 

Church,  42,  48. 

Private  basilica,  17. 
ANTWERP  : 

Cathedral,  589,   590  (Fig. 
376). 

Museum,  diptych  of    Me- 
lun,  656. 

Museum,  Madonna  by  Jan 

van  Eyck,  703. 
APLERBECK  : 

Baptismal  font,  443. 
AQUILA: 

Wood  carvings,  472. 
AQUILEJA  : 

Baptistery,  42. 
ARBONA: 

S.  Maria,  566. 
ARENDSEE  : 

Church,  295 
AREZZO  : 

Cathedral,  314,  570,  576. 

—  Monument    of   Guido 
Tarlati,  639. 

Museum,  marble  Crucifix, 

465- 

Pieve,  sculptures,  467. 
S.  Maria,  316. 
ARLES  : 

Carved  sarcophagi.  109. 
Notre-Dame  desAhcamps, 

346. 


724 


INDEX   OF   PLACES. 


A  R  LES — continued. 

St.    Trophime,    340,     345 
(Fig.  204). 

—  Chapter  -  house,    wall 
paintings, 432  (Fig.  265). 

—  Cloister,  346. 

—  Fa9ade  sculptures,  473. 
ARRAS: 

Cathedral,  513. 
Tapestries,  699. 

ASCHAFFENBURG : 

Collegiate  church,  536. 
Assisi  : 

S.  Chiara,  570. 
S.Francesco,  567,  570,  572 
(Fig*-  302,  363). 

—  Mural  paintings,  660, 
662,  665  (Fig.  406). 

ASTI  : 

S.  Pietro,  313. 
ATRANI  : 

S.  Salvatore,  bronze  doors, 

1 I5.47<\ 

ATRO.     See  Tind. 
AUGSBURG  : 
Cathedral,  279. 

-  Bronze  gates,  450-452 

{Fig.  275). 

—  Glass    paintings,  409 
(Fig.  252). 

—  Weingarten  altar, 692. 
Gallery,    Christ     between 

the  two  Thieves,  691. 

—  Zeitblom,    St.  Valen- 
tin, 691  (Fig.  418). 

—  Holbein,    the     elder, 
paintings,  693. 

AUTUN . 

Cathedral,  350,    353,    483 
(Fig.  295). 

—  Tympanon  sculptures, 
476. 

AUXERRE : 

.    Cathedral,  497. 

—  Glass  paintings,  650. 
St. Germain,  494  (Fig.  302). 

AVIGNON  : 

Notre  -  Dame  -  des  -  Doms, 

339.  344,  345- 
Papal  palace,  517. 
St.  Ruf,  339. 
Mural  paintings,  670. 
AVILA  . 

S.  Andrea  y  S.  Segundo, 

375- 

S.  Pedro,  375,  377. 
S.  Vicente,   375,   377,    583 

(*fr  372). 
AZ-ZAHRA.     See  Cordova. 

BACHARACH : 

Parish  church,  536. 


BAGDAD : 

Palace,  171. 
BAGH: 

Grotto,  140. 
BAGIA  : 

Castle,  paintings,  199. 
BALVE: 

Church,  portal  sculptures, 

443- 
BAMBERG  -. 

Cathedral,    277,   537,    538 

(Figs.  333,  334). 

—  Choir  of   St.  George, 
sculptures,  612. 

—  Coronation    robes    of 
Henry  II.,  428. 

—  Monument  of  Heniy 
II. ,629. 

—  Reliefs,  447. 

—  Sculptures  of  eastern 

portal,  612,  613. 
Cemetery,  bronze    tombs, 

630. 
Library,  bindings,  462. 

—  Apocalypse  of  Henry 
II. ,416. 

—  Gospel  of  Henry  II., 

415. 

—  Vulgata,  246. 

St.  Gangolf,  candelabrum, 
460. 

St.  James,  277. 

St.  Michael,  277. 
BANos : 

S.  Juan,  373. 
BARABAR : 

Grotto  of  Lomasrishi,  135. 

—  of   Sudama,  134  (Fig. 

74)- 
BARCELONA: 

Cathedral,  585. 

Dwellings,  586. 

S.  Pedro  y  S.  Pablo,  374. 
BARLETTA: 

S.  Sepolcro,wall  paintings, 
425  (Fig.  261). 

Statue  of  Theodosius,  102. 
BARNECK : 

Church,  379. 

BARTON-UPON-H  UMBER  : 

St.  Peter,  379. 
BASLE  : 

Bridge,  308. 

Minster,  538. 

—  Antependium,       442, 
458  (Fig.  277). 

—  Paintings,  677. 

—  Reliefs,  442  (Fig.  270). 
Spahlenthor,  563. 
Town-hall,  563. 

BATALHA : 
Convent,  588. 


BAYEUX: 

Cathedral,  366,  513. 

Museum,  tapestry,  434. 
BAZAS: 

Cathedral,  514. 
BEAUCAIRE: 

Church,  345. 
BEAUNE: 

Church,  353. 

Hospital,  painting  by  Ro- 

gier,  706. 
BEAUVAIS: 

Basilica,  214. 

Cathedral,  496,  508. 

—  Glass  paintings,  651. 
BEBENHAUSEN: 

Cloister,  301. 
EEC: 

Abbey,  498. 
BECKUM : 

Church,    baptismal     font, 

443- 
BEDSA  : 

Chaitya,  136,  139. 

Stambhas,  136. 
BEHAR: 

Grotto  of  Sattapanni,  134. 
BENEDICTBEUREN  : 

Convent,  213. 
BENEVENTO : 

Cathedral,  doors,  470. 
BERCHTESGADEN  : 

Collegiate  church,  299. 

—  Cloister,  443. 
BERGAMO  r 

Civic  buildings,  580. 
BERLIN  . 

Church     of    the     Virgin, 

paintings,       680      (Fig. 

412). 
Library,  diptych  of  Rufus 

Probianus,  HO. 

—  Codices,  95,  422  (Fig. 

260). 
Museum,   altar-piece    by 

Taddeo  Gaddi,  673. 

—  altar  -  pieces  from  the 
Wiesenkirche  at  Soest, 
407  (Fig.  251). 

—  Altar  of   St.  Bavo  by 
brothers  Van  Eyck,  702. 

—  Corpus    Christ!    altar 
of  Louvain,  707. 

—  Female  bust  from  Sea- 
la,  469. 

—  Head  of  Christ  by  Jan 
Van  Eyck,  703. 

—  Madonna  by  Jan  van 
Eyck,  703. 

—  Panels  of   Shrine    by 
Giotto,  673. 

—  Pyxis,  112. 


BERNE : 

Library,    tapestries,    699, 

706. 
BERNEY; 

Abbey  church,  363. 
BERSEN: 

Convent,  297. 
BERWICK: 
.     Church,  385. 
BESANgON: 

Cathedral,  296. 
BETHLEHEM: 

Church  of  the  Nativity,  22, 

24,  33- 

Mosque  of  Omar,  43. 
BETTIAH  : 

Triumphal  columns,  134. 
BEVAIX: 

Church,  354. 
BEVERLEY  : 

Minster,  523. 
BEZIERS: 

Cathedral,  500,  502,  513. 
BHAJA.     See  Bombay. 
BHILSA- 

Topes,  130. 
BIJAPUR: 

Grave  of  Mahmud,  175. 

Mosque    of    Jumma,    175 

(Figs.  93,  94). 
Bi-SiTUN: 

Palace,  capitals,  123. 
BJERESJO: 

Church,  paintings,  439. 
BLAUBEUREN: 

Wood-carvings,  625. 
BLENOD: 

Church,  281. 
BOECKELHEIM.     See  Kreuz- 

nach. 
BOEDECKEN 

Convent,  297. 
BOGOLUBOR: 

Church   of  Our  Lady,  67 

(Fig-  38). 
BOLOGNA- 

Convent  of  Gerusalemme 

(Fig.  184). 
S.  Domenico,  Area  of  St. 

Domenic,  638. 
S.  Francesco,  568. 
S.  Petromo,  577  (Fig.  370). 
SS.  Pietro    e    Paolo,    317 

(Fig.  187). 

S.  Stefano,  313,  314, 
BOMBAY: 

Grotto  of  Bhaja,  135,  139, 

140  (Fig.  75). 
BONN: 

Cemetery  church,  677. 
Minster,  536. 
St.  Castor,  274. 


INDEX   OF   PLACES. 

BOPPARD: 

Parish  church,  536. 
BORDEAUX: 

St.  Andre,  502. 

St.  Emilion,  356. 
BORGUND: 

Church,  391, 394  (Fig.  243). 
BORNHOLM : 

Church,  395. 
BOSCHERVILLE: 

Church,  492. 

St.  George,  364  (Fig.  222). 

—  Relief  of  David,  475. 
BOURG-LASTIE: 

Church,  349. 
BOURG-SAI  NT- ANDEOL  : 

Church,  345. 
BOURGES: 

Cathedral,  487,  497,  504, 
506(^/^.294,  314). 

—  Glass  paintings,  650. 
House   of  Jacques  Cceur, 

5i8. 
Porte  Saint-Ursin,  tympa- 

non,  475  (Fig.  291). 
BRAISNE: 

Church  of  St.  Yved,  544. 
BRANDENBURG: 
Cathedral,  262. 
Church  of  the  Virgin,  Har- 
lungerberge,    541    (Fig. 

339)- 

City  gates,  563. 
St.  Catherine,  558. 
St.  Godehard,  295,  558. 
Town-hall,  563. 
BRAUWEILER. 

Abbey  church  (Fig.  141). 

—  paintings,  677. 
Chapter-house,    paintings, 

403- 
BREGENZ; 

Chapel  of  St.  Aurelia,  211. 
BREITENAU: 

Basilica,  277 
BREMEN: 

Cathedral,  273  (/#.  154). 

Ecclesiastical      buildings, 
231. 

Town-hall,  563. 
BRENZ: 

Church,  280. 
BRESCIA: 

Cathedral,  51,  313. 

Civic  buildings,  580. 

Ivory  carvings,  112. 

S.  Salvadore,  207. 
BRESLAU  : 

Brasses,  621. 

Cathedral,  monument    of 
Bishop  John,  630.   [446. 

Church  of  the  Magdalen, 


725 

BRESLAU — continued. 

St.  Elisabeth,    altar-piece, 
688. 

Town-hall,  563. 
BRINDISI: 

Mintage,  468. 
BRIQUEBEC: 

Church,  363. 
BRIXWORTH: 

Church,  379. 
BRONNBACH : 

Church,  542. 
BROUSSA: 

Palace,  194. 
BRUGES; 

Academy,  Madonna  by  Jan 
van  Eyck,7O3  (Fig.  422). 

Cathedral,  brasses,  603. 

Ecclesiastical  edifices,  588. 

Guildhall,  591. 

Hospital,  Altar  of  St.  John, 
708. 

—  Shrine  of  St.  Ursula, 
708. 

Town-hall,  591. 
BRUNSWIG.      See  Dankwar- 

derode. 
BRUNSWICK: 

Brazen  Lion,  453. 

Cathedral,  294,  535,  541. 
—  Candelabra,  460. 

—  Crucifix  of  Bern  ward, 
452. 

—  Monuments  of  Henry 
the  Lion  and  his  wife, 
617. 

—  Paintings,  404. 
Museum,  gospel,  418. 
Town-hall,  563. 
Fortifications,  271. 

BRUSSELS. 

Library,  miniatures,  709. 
Museum,  Altar  of  St.Bavo, 

702. 
St.  Gudule,  588,  590. 

—  Windows,  698. 
Town-hall,  591. 

—  Paintings  by  Rogier, 
706. 

BUDDH  GAYA- 

Stupa,  132. 
BUECKEN: 

St.     Maternianus,       glass 
paintings,  409,  433  (Fig. 

253)- 
BUEDINGEN: 

Castle,  303. 
BUILD  WAS: 

Cistercian  church,  521, 
BURABURG: 

Convent,  214. 

St.  Peter,  213. 


726 


INDEX   OF   PLACES. 


BURGOS: 

Cathedral,  583.  584. 
Dwellings,  586. 

BURSFELDE : 

Church,  272. 
BUTWA: 

Mausoleums,  175. 
BYLAND: 

Cistercian  church,  521. 

CAEN  :, 

St.  Etienne,  365,  366,  380, 
499,  508  (Fig.  224). 

St.  Nicolas,  364. 

Ste.  Trinite,  365,  508  (Fig. 

223). 
C^ESAREA: 

Architectural  remains,  194. 
C^ESAREA  PHILIPPI  : 

Statue  of  Christ,  103. 
CAHORS: 

Cathedral,  356. 

—  Tympanon,  474. 
CAIRO:  [171. 

Fountain  of  Abderrhaman, 

—  near  Souq  el  Asr,  171. 
Dar  ul  Noman,  199. 
Mosque  of  Amru,  166, 167, 

173 -(Pip.  87,  88). 

—  of  Barkuk,  168. 

—  of  El  Azhaj,  168. 

—  of  El  Daher,  168. 

—  of  El  Hakim,  168. 

—  of  El  Moyed,  169. 

—  of    Ibn    Tulun,    167 
(Fig.  89). 

—  of  Hassan,  168,  169. 

—  of  Kait  Bey,  169  (Fig. 
90). 

—  of  Salaheddin  Yussuf, 
1 68. 

Palace  sculptures,  197. 
CALCAR: 

Collegiate     church,    carv- 
ings, 627. 
CALLUNDBORG : 

Church,  395. 
CAMBRAY: 

Cathedral,  497,  498. 
CAMBRIDGE: 

St.    Sepulchre,    386   (Fig. 

241). 
CAMMIN  : 

Cathedral,  541. 
CAMPEN: 

Cistercian  convent,  541. 
CAMPRODON : 

S.  Pedro,  374. 
CANGAS: 

S.  Cruz,  369. 
CANNES: 

Coffin,  109  (Fig.  63). 


CANOSA : 

Mortuary  chapel   of   Boe- 
mund    (bronze     doors), 
470. 
CANOUGE: 

Mosque,  173. 
CANTERBURY : 

Cathedral,  380,  385,  522 
(Figs.  324,  326). 

—  Monument   of    Black 
Prince,  610. 

CAPPENBERG : 

Church,  276. 
CAPUA: 

Cathedral  (mosaics),  424. 

Museum,  sculptures  from 
Volturno,  468  (Fig.  287). 

S.  Angelo  in  Forinis,  mural 

paintings,  424. 
CARCASSONNE: 

St.  Nazaire,  500,  513. 

—  Glass  paintings,  651. 
CARLSRUHE: 

Library,  Gospel  of  Bruch- 

sal,  418. 
CARPENTRAS:  [345- 

Notre  -  Dame     d'Aubune, 
CARTMEL:  [522. 

Church  of  the  Augustines, 
CASHEL: 

Chapel  of  Cormac,  390. 
CASTELLUM  TINGITANUM: 

Church  (inscription),  2O. 
CASTIGLIONE  D'OLONA: 

Baptistery  (paintings),  671. 

Collegiate    church  (paint- 
ings), 671. 
CASTROP: 

Church  (paintings),  405. 
CAVAILLON  : 

Church,  339,  344. 
CEFALU: 

Cathedral,  331. 

—  Mosaics,  426. 
CENTULA: 

Convent,  210,  223. 
CHAI.ONS-SUR-M  ARNE  : 
Cathedral,  497,  508,  513. 

—  Glass  paintings,  650. 
Notre -Dame,    485,    486, 

487,  489. 
St.  Jean,  367. 
CHAMBOIS: 

Donjon,  387. 
CHAMP-LE-DUC: 

Church,  281. 
CHARTRES: 

Cathedral,  485,  489,  494, 
496.  503-  504,  508  (Figs. 
304,  308). 

—  Glass  paintings,  433, 
650. 


CHARTRES — continued. 
Cathedral  sculptures,  477, 

596,  598. 
St.  Pere,  484. 

—  Glass  paintings,  433. 
CHATSWORTH: 

Library   of    the    Duke   of   > 

Devonshire,  codex,  437. 
CHIARAVALLK: 

Church  of  the  Cistercians, 

567. 
CHICHESTER: 

Cathedral,  385. 
CHIEMSEE: 

Convent,  213. 
CHRISTENBERG: 

Ecclesiastical      buildings, 

213. 
CITEAUX: 

Convent,  541. 
CITTA  DI  CASTELLO: 

Cathedral,     antependium, 

472. 
CIVIDALE: 

Chapter-heuse,  pax,  235. 

—  Psalters,  413,  418. 

—  Pax,  235  (Fig.  124). 
Figures  of  Saints,  114. 
Nunnery,  relief,  234. 

St.  John,  baptistery,   207, 

208  (Fig.  in). 
St.  Martin,  relief ,  234  (Fig. 

123)- 
CIVITA  CASTELLANA: 

Cathedral,     portals,      324 

(Fig.  192). 
CIVRAY : 

Church,  358. 

—  Sculptures,  475. 
CLERMONT-FERRAND: 

Cathedral,  500,  513. 

Notre-Dame-du-Port,  208, 
347-349,  500  (Figs.  210, 
211). 
CLONMACNOISE: 

Church,  390. 
CLUNY : 

Church,  351  (Fig.  212). 
COBERN: 

Castle,  303. 

—  Chapel,  307. 
COBLENTZ  : 

St.  Castor,  534. 

COLBATZ : 

Convent  church,  541. 
COI.MAR: 

Museum,  altar-piece  from 
St.  Martin,  690. 

—  Staufenberg  altar,  690. 
St.   Martin,    sacristy,    Ma- 
donna in  the  Rose  Gar- 
den, 690. 


COLOGNE: 
Archiepiscopal      museum, 

portable  altar,  459. 
Cathedral,  230,    545,   546, 

547-549,  553,  554  (Figs. 

347,  348). 

—  Altar       by       Master 
Stephen,  685. 

—  Altar  of  St.Clara,68s. 

—  Bronze   funeral  mon- 
ument, 621. 

—  Choir,  figures  of  Apos- 
tles, 615. 

—  Choir    screen     paint- 
ings, 678. 

—  Shrine   of   the   Magi, 
457- 

Church  of  the  Apostles, 
282,291,  536. 

City  gates,  536,  563. 

Great  St.  Martin,  212,282, 
291,  536  (Figs.  171,  172). 

Guerzenich,  563. 

New  Hall,  mural  paint- 
ings, 678. 

Oppenheim  collection,  St. 
Eligius,  705. 

St.  Cecilia,  275. 

St.  Clement,  211. 

St.  Cunibert,  536. 

—  Glass  paintings,  409. 

—  Mural  paintings,  678. 
St.  George.    See  St.  James. 
St.  Gereon,  211  (Fig.  160). 

—  Mosaic  pavement,  399 

(Ffr  245). 
St.  James,  274. 
St.  Mary  of   the   Capitol, 

212,  222,  223,  257,  282, 

291  (Figs.  169,  170). 

—  Carved  door,  447. 

St.    Mauritius,    290   (Fig. 

167). 

St.  Pantaleon,  297. 
St.  Ursula,  275,  282. 

—  Antependium,  455. 
Town-hall,  563. 

—  Mural  paintings,  678. 
Wallraf  Museum,  early  Co- 
logne   panel    paintings, 
683,  684,  687  (Figs.  414, 

415). 

—  Last  Judgment,  686. 

—  Madonna  in  the  Rose 
Garden,  Master  Stephen, 
685  (Fig.  416). 

—  Madonna     with     the 
Bean  Blossom,  685  (Fig. 

398). 
COMMINGE: 

St.  Bertrand,  sculptures, 
474- 


INDEX   OF   PLACES. 

COMO: 

Civic  buildings,  580. 
Ivory  carvings,  in. 
S.  Abondio,  311,  315,  578 
(*&••  186). 

COMPOSTELLA: 

Santiago,     375-377     (Fig. 

232). 
CONQUES: 

Abbey  Church,  349. 

—  Portal  sculptures,  474. 
CONSTANCE: 

Cathedral,  280. 

Convent  of  Petershausen, 

298. 

CONSTANTINOPLE  : 
Chalke,  61,  104. 
Chapel  of  Romanus  Laca- 

penus,  62. 
Church  of  the  Apostles,  45. 

—  of  the  Saviour,  62, 63. 
Herseon,  61. 

Mosque  of  Selim  II.,  195. 

—  of  Soliman  II.,  195. 

—  of     Sultan      Bajaaet, 
195. 

Pantepoptes    Church,    62 

(Fff.  36)- 

Pantokrator  Church,  62. 
Porphyry  column,  IO2. 
St.  Andrew,  62. 
St.  Irene,  22,  60  (Fig.  35). 
St.  Sergius,  51, 55, 66  (Fig. 

32). 
St.  Sophia,  56-60,91  (Figs. 

33,  34)- 

St.  Theodore,  62. 
Statues  of  Constantine  VI., 

103. 
Statue  of  Justinian,  102. 

—  of  Theodora,  103. 

—  of  Phokas,  103. 
CORBEIL: 

Portal      sculptures,      477 

(Figs.  292,  293). 
CORBIE: 

Convent,  210. 
CORDOVA: 

Az  Zahra,  182. 

—  Fountain,  196. 

—  Statue,  197. 
Mosque,  178-182  (Figs.  95, 

96). 

Palace  of  the  Waterwheel, 

Golden  Lion,  197. 
CORUNA: 

S.  Maria,  374. 

Santiago,  374. 
CORVEY: 

Convent,  231  (Fig.  122). 
COURCY: 

Donjon,  387. 


727 

COUTANCE : 

Cathedral,  499,  513. 
CRACOW: 

Cathedral,  Gospel  of  Hen- 
ry IV.,  418. 

Church  of  Our  Lady,  al- 
tar-piece, 626. 

Gothic  edifices,  593. 
CREIL: 

Castle,  517. 
CREMONA: 

Cathedral,  318,  576. 

Civic  buildings,  580. 
CREUZBERG: 

Ecclesiastical      buildings, 

213. 
CRUAS:  [264). 

Church,  mosaic,  431  (Fig. 
CTESIPHON: 

Palace    of     Khosru,    123 
(Fig.  66). 

CUTTACK: 

Ganesa    Grotto,   130,   140 

(Fig.  7W). 
Hathi  Grotto,  139. 
Rani  Grotto,  139. 
CYPRUS: 

Gothic  buildings,  593. 

DAIRBHILE: 

Chapel,  389. 
DAMASCUS: 

Basilica  of  St.  John,  159. 
DANKWARDERODE  : 

Castle,  271,  303  (Fig.  179). 

—  chapel,  307. 
DANTZIC: 

Artushof,  563. 

Brasses,  609. 

Church  of  the  Virgin,  559. 
DARABGERD: 

Reliefs,  125. 
DARMSTADT: 

Museum,  bindings,  462. 

—  Diptych,  no. 

—  Ivory  carvings,  112. 
—  Portable  altar,  459. 

DELHI: 

Feroz  Shah,  Lat,  133. 
Mausoleum  of  Ala-ud-din 
Khilji,  174. 

—  of  Altumsh,  174. 
Mohammedan     buildings, 

176. 
Mosque    of    Kutub,    173, 

174. 

DENKENDORF: 
Church,  280. 
DERBA: 

Church,  47. 
DHAR: 

Mosque,  173. 


728 


INDEX    OF    PLACES. 


DHUMNAR: 

Chaityas,  138. 
DIARBEKR: 

Palace,  121. 
DIEDENHOFEN: 

Chapel,  221. 
DIESDORF: 

Church,  295  (Fig.  174). 
DIEST: 

Ecclesiastical  edifices,  588. 
DIJON: 

Castle,  517. 

Chartreuse,        sculptures, 
604,  605. 

—  Fountain    of    Moses, 
605  (Fig.  381). 

Museum,  altar  from  Char- 
treuse, 699. 

—  Monument    of    John 
the  Fearless,  606. 

—  Monument   of    Philip 
the  Bold,  605,  606. 

—  Sculptures  from  Char- 
treuse, 604. 

Notre-Dame,  500. 
St.  Benigne,  351,  354,5*3- 
DINANT: 

Ecclesiastical  edifices,  588. 
Foundery,  452,  478,  603. 
DOMDIDIER: 

Church,  354. 
DOVER: 

Castle,  church,  379. 
DRESDEN: 

Gallery,  Madonna  by  Jan 

van  Eyck,  703. 
Museum    of    the    Grosser 
Garten,     clay      statues, 
619. 
DRONTHEIM: 

Cathedral,  592. 
DRUEBECK: 

Church  (Fig.  145). 
DUBLIN: 

Trinity     College,     codex 

(Fig.  130). 
DURHAM: 

Cathedral,  383,  385  (Figs. 
237,  238). 

EARLS  BARTON: 

Church,    379    (Figs.    233, 

234)- 
EBERSHEIMMUENSTER: 

Convent,  213. 
EBRACH : 

Cistercian     convent,     541 

(Fig.  340). 
EBRODUNUM: 

Church     of     the     Virgin, 
208. 


ECHTERNACH: 

Ecclesiastical  edifices,  211. 

St.  Willibrord,  261,  275. 
ECRAINVILLE: 

Basilica,   362   (Figs.  217^, 

218). 
EDESSA: 

Church,  19. 
EGER: 

Palace,  304. 

—  Chapel,  306. 
EGISHEIM: 

Castle,  216. 
EICHSTAEDT: 

Cathedral,     cloister    (Fig. 
358). 

Convent,  214. 
ELGIN: 

Cathedral,  533. 
ELLORA: 

Chaityas,  138. 

Kylas,  146.   . 
ELLWANGEN: 

Church,  280. 
ELTENBERG: 

Convent,  298. 
ELY: 

Cathedral,  385,   522,  529, 
530,  533  (Fig.  330). 

—  Sculptures,  479. 
EMAUS: 

Cloister,  paintings,  680. 
EMBRUN.     See  Ebrodunum. 
ENGER: 

Nunnery,  297. 
EPHESUS: 

Places  of  worship  in  pri- 
vate houses,  1 6. 
ERESBERG.     See  Mersberg. 
ERFURT: 

Cathedral,  court,  561. 

—  Lampadophorus,  452. 
Ecclesiastical  edifices,  214. 
Petersberg,  273. 

ERLANGEN: 

Collection   of    University, 
St.  Sebastian  by  Traut, 
689. 
ERMENT: 

Basilica,  32. 
ERWITTE: 

Church,  portal  sculptures, 

443- 
ERZEROUM: 

Architectural  remains,  194. 
ESCALADA: 

S.  Miguel,  373  (Fig.  229). 
ESCURIAL: 

Codices,    418,   436   (Figs. 
104,  267). 


E  SCURI A  L — continued. 

Descent  from  the  Cross  by 

Rogier,  706. 

Miniatures,  198  (Fig.  104). 
ESPAN.     See  L1  Espan. 
ESSEN  : 

Abbey    church,    221   (Fig. 
114). 

—  Bindings,     462     (Fig. 
283). 

—  Candelabrum,  460. 

—  Crucifixes,  456,  459. 
Convent,  297. 

ETRETAT: 

Basilica,  362  (Fig.  21711). 
ETTENHEIMMUENSTER  : 

Convent,  213. 
Eu: 

Abbey  church,  499. 
EVREUX: 

Cathedral,  366. 

—  Glass  paintings,  651. 
Reliquary  of  St.  Taurinus, 

603. 
EXETER: 

Cathedral,  528. 

—  Sculptures,  611. 
EXTERNSTEIN.     See  Horn. 

FALLERI: 

S.  Maria,  portals,  324. 
FAURNDAU : 

Church,  280. 
FECAMP: 

Abbey  church,  499. 
FERRARA: 

Cathedral,  319. 

—  Sculptures,  465. 
FIRUZ  ABAD: 

Palace,  121,  i2z(Fig,  67). 
FISCHBECK: 

Nunnery,  297. 
FLECKENSTEIN.      See   Wtis- 

senbnrg. 
FLORENCE: 

Academy,  Madonna  d'Og- 
ni  Santi,  673. 

—  Panels    of    shrine    by 
Giotto,  673. 

Baptistery.  314,  329,  576. 

—  Doors     of      southern 
portal,  641. 

-  Mosaics,  428,  659.    , 
Bigallo,  581. 

—  Sculptures,  638. 
Campanile,  sculptures,  639 

(Fig.  396). 
Carmine,    Capella     Bran- 

cacci,  frescos,  671. 
Cathedral,   576,   572,   574, 

576  (Figs.  366,  367). 
-i-  Portal  sculptures,  637. 


FLORENCE — continued. 
Civic  buildings,  580. 
Hospital  of  S.  Maria  Nu- 

ova,  Nativity  by  Hugo 

van  der  Goes,  705. 
Laurentiana,    codices,    96 

(Fi8-  55)- 
Loggia    dei    Lanzi,     576, 

581. 
Opera   del   Duomo,  Altar 

of  St.  John,  641. 
Orsanmicchele,  576. 

—  Altar-piece,  640. 

—  Madonna,  673. 
Palazzo  Vecchio,  580. 
S.  Croce,  570,  572-574- 

—  Capella  Bardi,  paint- 
ings, 666. 

—  Capella       Baroncelli, 
paintings,  666. 

—  Capella  Peruzzi,  paint- 
ings, 666. 

—  Capella   S.   Silvestro, 
frescos,  667. 

S.  Marco,  frescos,  762. 
S.    Maria     Novella,    569, 

570,  574- 

—  Capella  Strozzi,  altar- 
piece,  673. 

—  Capella   Strozzi,  fres- 
cos, 667. 

—  Chapter-hall,  Spanish 
chapel,  paintings,  666. 

—  Madonna    by    Cima- 
bue,  660  (Fig.  404). 

S.  Miniato,  329. 
S.  Trinita,  570. 
Uffizi,  annunciation  by  Si- 
mone  di  Martino,  674. 

—  Paintings   by  Rogier, 
706. 

FONTAN^E: 

Convent,  210. 
FOXTANELLUM: 

Convent,  210,  216,  223. 

—  Tower,  228. 

—  Wall  paintings,  244. 
FONTEVRAULT: 

Abbey  church,  357. 

—  Cloister,  356. 

—  Royal  Tombs,  601. 
FONTVIELLE: 

St.  Victor,  frieze,  401. 
FORE: 

Chapel,  389. 
FORMICH- 

Hammerstein  castle,  302. 
FOROCLAUDIO: 

S.  Maria    la    Libera,  wall 

paintings,  401,  424. 
FOUNTAINS: 

Cistercian  church,  521. 


INDEX   OF   PLACES. 

FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAIN  : 
Brentano    collection,  dip- 
tych of  Melun,  656. 

—  Codex,  656. 
Museum,    portable    altar, 

459- 

Palace    of    Charlemagne, 
221. 

Stone  house,  564. 
FRAUENBURG: 

Cathedral,  559. 
FRECKENHORST: 

Baptismal  font,  443. 

Church,  276. 

Convent,  297. 
FREDELSLOH: 

Church,  273. 
FREIBERG  (SAXONY): 

City  church,  294. 

—  Golden     portal,    445, 
446,  535- 

FREIBURG  (BADEN): 

Minster,    545,    546,    553, 

554  (F&.  345,  346). 

—  Sculptures,  615. 
FREIBURG  (THURINGIA): 

Castle,  chapel,  306. 
FREISING: 
Castle,  216. 
Cathedral,  279. 

—  Sculptured  pillar,  443 
(Fig.  271). 

St.  Benedict,  212. 

St.  Stephen,  212. 
FRESHFORD: 

Church,  390. 
FRICOLET: 

St.  Michel,  346. 
FRITZLAR: 

Collegiate  church,  537,  538 

(^•335). 

Convent,  214. 

St.  Peter,  213. 
FROENDENBERG: 

Church,  paintings,  405. 
FROSE  : 

Church,  272. 
FUENTE  DE  GUARRAZAR: 

Treasure,  237  (Fig.  126). 
FUESSEN: 

Ecclesiastical  edifices,  211. 
FULDA: 

Convent,    213,    216,   224- 

226  (Figs.  117,  118). 
FURNEP: 

Cistercian  church,  521. 
FUTTEHPORE  SlKRl: 

Mohammedan     buildings, 
176. 

GAINSBOROUGH: 
Castle,  388. 


729 

GALLERUS  : 

Chapel,  389. 
GANDERSHEIM: 

Collegiate    church,  carved 
funeral  monuments,62O. 

Convent,    231,    272,    294, 

297. 
GANDHARA: 

Topes,  131,  133. 
GANESA.     See  Ciittack. 
GARGANO,  MONTE: 

S.  Angelo,  579. 

—  Bronze  doors,  470. 
GEBWEILER: 

Church,  paintings,  677. 
GELNHAUSEN: 
Church,  536. 
Palace,  305  (Fig.  180). 

—  Chapel,  307. 
GEMETICUM.    See  Jumitges. 
GENEVA : 

Cathedral,  500. 
GENNES: 

Church,  214. 
GEORGENBERG: 

Cistercian  convent,  541. 
GERBSTAEDT: 

Convent,  298. 
GERNRODE: 

Collegiate      church,    258, 
271  (Figs.  143,  148). 

—  Sculptures,  444. 
Convent,  298. 

GERONA  : 

Cathedral,  585. 

S.  Daniel,  374. 

S.  Pedro,  374. 
GHAZNI:  [172. 

Mohammedan     buildings, 
GHENT: 

Ecclesiastical  edifices,  588. 

Guildhall,  591. 

St.  Bavo,   altar-piece,    701 
(Fig.  420,  421). 

St.  Macarius,  297. 
GIERSBERG : 

Castle,  303. 
GIRNAR: 

Temple  complex,  145. 
GLADBACH: 

Convent,  298. 

GLANFEUIL        (GLANNAFO- 
LIUM): 

St.  Michael,  209. 
GLASGOW: 

Cathedral,  533. 
GLENALOUGH : 

Chapel,  389. 
GLOUCESTER: 

Cathedral,  531  (Figs.  323, 
332). 

Cloister,  533. 


73° 

GMUEND: 

Wood-carvings,  625. 
GNESEN: 

Cathedral,  door,  453. 
GOERLITZ  : 

Church  of  St.  Peter,  535. 
GOERZ: 

Crosier,  462. 
GOSLAR: 

Cathedral,  altar  of  Crodo, 
452. 

Church,  272. 

Palace,  304. 

Walls,  271. 
GOTHA: 

Library,  codex  of  Echter- 
nach,  413,462  (Fig.  256). 
GOURDON: 

Treasure,  237. 
GRADO: 

Cathedral,  322. 
GRANADA: 

Alhambra,  185-191  (Figs. 
99,  loo,  101). 

—  Fountain  of  the  Lions, 
196. 

—  Paintings,    199    (Figs. 
105,  106). 

Capilla  Real,  586. 

—  Painting    by    Rogier, 
706. 

Generalife,  191. 

Marble    Relief    197   (Fig. 

103). 

Palace  of  King  Badis,  197. 
GRANDMONT: 
Church,  337. 

—  Cloister,  346. 
GRANDSON: 

St.  John,  354  (Fig.  214). 
GRANEVOLDEN : 

Basilica,  396. 
GRAVEDONA: 

Mosaics,  242. 
GREIN: 

Persenberg,  302. 
GREUSSEN: 

Ecclesiastical      edifices, 

213. 
GRIES,  NEAR  BOTZEN: 

Church,  altar,  625. 
GROENINGEN: 

Convent,  297. 

St.  Walburgis,  221. 
GROPPOLI: 

S.    Micchele,    pulpit,    465 
(Fig.  284). 

—  Statue  of  St.  Michael, 
465. 

GUALIOR: 

Mohammedan     buildings, 
176. 


INDEX   OF   PLACES. 

GUILDFORD: 

Castle,  388. 
GUILLEM-DU-DESERT: 

Church,    341,    343    (Figs. 

2053,  207). 
GURK: 

Cathedral,  279  (Fig.  159). 

—  Paintings,  404. 
GYRASPORE: 

Temple  (Fig.  80*). 

HAARLEM: 

St.  Bavo,  591. 
HABSBURG: 

Castle,  302. 
HADMERSLEBEN: 

Convent,  298. 
HAGENAU: 

St.  George,  280. 
HALBERSTADT: 

Cathedral,  550  (Fig.  349). 

Church  of  Our  Lady,  273 
(Fig.  146). 

Ecclesiastical  edifices,  231. 

Reliefs,  444. 
HAMBURG: 

Ecclesiastical  edifices,  231. 
HAMERSLEBEN: 

Convent  church,  274. 

-  Reliefs,  444.        [140). 

—  Romanic  capitals  (Fig. 

HAMMERSTEIN.      See    For- 

nich. 
HANOVER: 

Royal  treasury,  altar,  457. 

Town-hall,  563. 
HASENRIED: 

Convent,  214. 
HASLACH: 

Cloister,  211. 
HAUSEN: 

Church,  altar,  691. 
HAVELBERG: 

Cathedral,  295. 
HECKLINGEN: 

Basilica  (Fig.  135). 

Convent,  298. 

Reliefs,  444. 
HEDINGHAM: 

Castle,  388. 
HEERBERGE: 

Church,  altar,  691. 
HEGGEN: 

Church,  paintings,  405. 
HEIDENHEIM: 

Convent,  214. 
HEILBRONN: 

Cistercian  convent,  541. 
HEILIGENKREUZ: 

Chapter-hall,  glass    paint- 
ings, 409. 

Cistercian  convent,  541. 


HEILSBERG: 

Castle,  562. 
HEININGEN: 

Church,  272. 
HEISTERBACH: 

Monastery,  536. 
HELIOPOLIS: 

Church,  47. 
HERBSLEBEN: 

Ecclesiastical      edifices, 

213. 
HERFORD: 

Convent,  231,  297. 
HERRENBERG: 

Church,  wood -carvings, 

625. 
HERSFELD: 

Convent,  297. 

—  Church,      277     (Fig. 
158). 

HERZEBROCH: 

Convent,  297. 
HESSLINGEN: 

Convent,  298. 
HILDESHEIM: 

Cathedral,    bell     "  Canta- 
bona,"  621. 

—  Bindings,  462. 

—  Bronze      doors,      449 
(Fig.  274). 

—  Chandeliers,  460. 

—  Codices,  417. 

—  Font,  453. 

—  Pavement,  399. 

—  Shrine,  458. 
Column     of      Bernward, 

450. 
Ecclesiastical       edifices, 

231. 
Moritzberg,       collegiate 

church,  274. 
Reliefs,  444. 
St.    Godehard,     257,    272 

(f'g-  J37). 
St.  Michael,  258,  272,  294 

(Figs.  144-  153)- 

—  Paintings,     405,     410 
(Fig.  249). 

HILLERSLEBEN: 

Convent,  298. 
HILWARTSHAUSEN: 

Convent,  298. 
HIRSAU: 

Convent,  297. 
HIRSCHAU: 

St.  Aurelius,  280. 
HIRZENACH: 

Church,  275. 
HITTERDAL: 

Church,  391,  394. 
HOECHST: 

St.  Justinus,  274. 


HOP: 

Church  of  the  Holy  Trin- 
ity, panel  painting  by 
Wolgemut,  689  (Fig. 
417). 

HOHENBURG: 

Castle,  216. 

Convent,  213. 
HOHENEGISHEIM: 

Castle,  303. 
MONAU: 

Convent,  213. 
HORN: 

Extersteine,  reliefs,  442. 
HUESCA: 

S.  Pedro,  374. 
HUESTEN: 

Church,  paintings,  405. 
HUYSEBURG: 

Church,  272.  [i39)- 

—  Romanic  capitals  (Fig. 

IBRIM  (ARMENIA): 

Basilica,  24. 
ICONIUM: 

Medresseh,  194. 
IGALIKKO: 

Round  building,  395. 
ILBENSTADT: 

Basilica,  277. 
ILMMUENSTER: 

Convent,  213. 
ILSENBURG: 

Church,  272. 
INGELHEIM: 

Palace,  221,  245. 

-  Paintings,  244. 
ISPAHAN: 

Capitajs,  123  (Fig.  69). 

Palace  of  Maidan  Shahi, 

194. 
ISSOIRE: 

Church,  349. 

JAMALGIRI: 

Vihara,  138. 
JAUNPORE: 

Mosque,  173,  174. 
JEDBURGH: 

Abbey  church,  388. 
JEHAN-ABAD.     See  Delhi. 
JERICHOW: 

Basilica,  295  (7^.173). 
JERUSALEM : 

Chapel  of   the  Ascension, 

47- 

Church  of  the  Holy  Sep- 
ulchre, 22,  24,  47. 

Golden  Portal,  49. 

Kubbet-es-Sachra,  159 
(Fig.  86). 

Mosque  El-Aksa,  159. 


INDEX   OF   PLACES. 

JOHANNISBERG: 

Church,  275. 

JUMIEGES: 

Abbey   church,   363  (Fig. 

220). 
Convent,  210. 

KAESTENBURG  : 

Castle,  303. 
KAIRVAN:  [177. 

Mohammedan     buildings, 
KAISARIEH.     See  Ccesarea. 
KAISERSWERTH: 

Church,  275. 
KAISHEIM: 

Church,  altar-piece,  691. 
KAKORTOK: 

Round  edifice,  395. 
KALBURGAH: 

Mosque,  175  (Fig.  92). 
KALKBERG: 

Convent,  298. 
KARLI: 

Chaitya,  \yj(Fig.  76). 
KARLSTEIN  : 

Castle,  563. 

Chapel  of    St.  Catherine, 
paintings,  680. 

Chapel  of  the  Holy  Cross, 

pictures,  684. 
KASCHAU: 

Gothic  edifices,  593. 
KEFERLOH: 

Church,  paintings,  405. 
KELSO: 

Abbey  church,  388. 
KEMPTEN: 

Convent,  213. 
KENHERI: 

Chaitya  temples,  138. 
KESSLINGEN: 

Convent  church,  212. 
KHAJURAHO: 

Ganthai  (Fig.  800). 
KHOLVI: 

Chaitya  temples,  138. 
KIBURG.     See  Zurich. 
KIEF: 

St.  Sophia,  67  (Fig.  39). 
—  Sarcophagus    of     the 
Grand  -  duke    Jaroslaw, 
116. 
KILDARE: 

Portal,  390. 
KILLALOE: 

Church,  390. 
KILMADUAGH: 

Chapel,  389. 
KIRKSTALL: 

Cistercian  church,  521. 
KIRKWALL: 

Church,  388. 


731 

KlTZINGEN: 

Convent,  214. 
KLEINKOMBERG: 

Church,  280. 
KLOSTERAU: 
Altar    candlestick    (Fig. 

281). 

KLOSTERNEUBURG : 
Cdllegiate    church,    ante- 
pendium,  457. 

—  Candelabrum,  460. 

—  Cloister,  561. 
KLOSTERRATH: 

Church  of  the  Augustines, 

291. 
KLUS: 

Church,  272. 
KNECHTSTEDEN: 
Church    of    the    Premon- 

strants,  291  (Fig.  168). 
KOCHELSEE: 
Convent,  213. 

KOENIGSBERG  IN  THE  NEU- 
MARK : 

Church  of  the  Virgin,  559. 

Town-hall,  563. 
KOENIGSFELDEN: 

Church,   glass    paintings 

(Fig.  413). 
KOENIGSLUT-JER: 

Church,  capitals,  273. 

—  Reliefs,  444. 
KOMBURG: 

Abbey    church,    antepen- 
dium,  454. 

—  Chandelier,  460. 
KONIEH.     See  Iconium. 
KREGLINGEN: 

Altar  of  the  Virgin,  624. 
KREMSMUENSTER: 

Convent,  213. 
—  Chalice    of    Thassilo, 

239(^-128). 

KREUZBERG.  See  Cretnbtrg. 
KREUZNACH: 

Boeckelheim,  302. 
KRUKENBERG: 

Castle  chapel,  307. 
KUENZEN: 

Ecclesiastical  edifices,  211. 

LAACH : 

Convent  church,  288  (Figs. 

134,  1 66). 

LA  CORUNA.     See  Cortina. 
LAMBACH: 

Church,  paintings,  405. 
LAMMSPRINGE: 

Convent,  231,  297. 
LANDSBERG: 

Castle,  303. 

—  Chapel,  306(^.182). 


732 


INDEX   or    M 


LANDSHI  i : 
Convent    of    Scligenthal, 

wood  carvings,  620. 
St.  Martin,  558,  559. 
Trausnitz,  wood  carvings, 

620. 

LANOF.N9AI.ZA: 

Ecclesiastical  edifices,  213. 

KEf: 

Cathedral,  487. 
I. AON: 

Cathedral,  485,  486,  488, 
480,  508,  512. 

—  Facade       sculptures, 

Tower,  228, 

LAURKSHAM.     See  Lonch. 
LAUSANNK: 

Cathedral,  500. 
LAVANT,  VALLEY: 

St.  Paul,  279. 
At;: 

Convent,  213. 
I.i'  •  i 

SS.    Niccolo   e    Cataldo, 

335- 
•  I.N: 
Church,    glass    paintings, 

I.r  M  tjffi 
Cathedral,  497,  503,  504. 

—  Glass  paintings,  433, 
650. 

Monument  of  Henry  II. 
•  <f  I  .rigland,  603, 

LEMOO: 
Town-hall,  563. 

I.I   '.A 

S.  Cristina,  371  (Fig.  226). 
LEON: 

Cathedral,  585. 
S.  Nidoro,  375  (Fig.  231). 

LttiDAi 

Cathedral,  377,  583. 
LERINS: 
Chapel    of    the    Trinity, 

344- 
St.  Honorat,34i,342(/y^/. 

205*,  2o6rt). 

Church,  361. 
L'EsPAN: 

Convent    church,    monu- 
ment, 601. 

Church,  337,  339. 
LEYDEN: 

ncras,  591. 

Cathedral,  528  (Fig.  320). 

—  Chapter-house,  532. 

—  Sculptures,  611. 


I.M'.K: 

St.    Ji.-irtliolorn'-w,    l.aptis- 
tu.il  f'nit.  453,  478. 

St.  John,  222. 
I. n  IBJ] 

Altar,  479. 

Chapel,    w;ill 

LiLLBBOtmz: 

i>'.njf.ii,  387. 

"I  Ml.    IlAAI'I.I 

Convent  church,  271    / 


I.IMl:i-|".    01 

i:iry,  458. 
St.  (,<:or£<:,  543  (/''if,  342). 

Cathedral,   502,   513  '/•/;. 

St.  Maiti.-.I,  h.l.lc,  435. 
St.  Midicl-es- Liens,  514. 
LINCOLN: 
Cathedral,  523. 

—  Chapter-house,  532. 

—  "  ',07,  01  I. 

Ecclesiastic  I  c<iihr  c«t,  215. 

IHKARNE. 
S.  Miguel,  370, 


Cathedra],  499. 

. 

<  'hiiM.h.  275. 

Jiritish    Museum,  codices, 
243,  434,  436-4  -i 

:,;•     ,111 

linrl'-ij;!)    I  Ioir-r,  M;i'l<imi,i 

l.y   |;in  v,in   l',y<  k  ,  70-5. 
Chtir'  h      of      III'-       I  i'  i.'  li 

Knight  i    of    St.    John, 

522. 
Kensington  Museum,  altar: 

piece  from  Licsbjerg  in 

Jiitlsin'l,  47'). 
National  Gallery,  Jan  van 

vanni     Arnoldm,    703, 

704. 

—  Margaritone, 


tf,  i 
M 


—  Master  of 
paintings,  687. 

—  Chat.- 

•15). 
VW-.'  -.t^^y,  523, 

5«5 

—  Monuments,  609. 


'•ntinnrtt. 

Wf.tiniii  t'T     Al<  l.'-v 

ti:nl  <,(   Mi<  li.-ir'l    I  I.,  t,^-]. 
:fr'.ii!;il--,  057. 

: 
St.  Martin,  337,  344    / 

202r). 
I.'.i"  M  : 

I'.i  .li'.pri':,  213. 

H 

Hum  h,  275. 
'  ',i,v«-nt,  212.  [  121). 

i 
. 

(  ':itl.. 

1  •.  588. 

Guildhall, 

St.    i 

:ill:ir,  707. 


(  ;illi«-'lt;i! 
-  •    l'.;i|>ti--.iri;il  font,  ' 

Ili'/n/'-  fun- 
m<  -lit,  /,2l. 

I'll        of         till-        '. 

bronz< 

II'.    j.|':il        '.f 

St.    /Kgidius,     baptismal 

foil! 

St.   |:m>'-s  l.nj.ti',rnn]    font, 

I 

/ 

—  S(ul|.' 

—  'Iyin|>rinon  relirf 
S.  A 

S.  Frrfli.-ino,  20, 

—  I  \i,l, 
"iili'i.  325. 

r')3). 
S,  Mi'  -  I.' 

325. 

S.  I'I.T  f.ijroli,  324. 

St.  Kilian,  294. 

—  Paintings,  40  J. 

Church,  antcj/cndium,  406. 

vent,  213. 
. 

Cathedral,  377. 
I 

Cathedral 


LUSIGNAN: 

Church,  358. 
LUTZELL: 

Cistercian  convent,  541. 
LUXEUIL  (LuxoviUM): 

Convent,  210. 
LYONS  : 

Carved  sarcophagi,  109. 

Cathedral,  500. 

MAASMUENSTER: 

Convent,  213. 
MADRID: 

Palace,  Gobelins,  699. 
Prado,  Descent    from   the 
Cross  by  Rogier,  706. 
—  Seven  Sacraments  by 
Rogier,  706. 
MADURA: 

Perumal  pagoda,  146. 
MAGDEBURG: 
Cathedral,   542,   543  (Fig. 

34'). 

—  Figure  of  Archbishop 
Giselerius,  452. 

—  Funeral  monument  of 
Archbishop    Ernst,  631 
(Fig.  392). 

—  Tombstone    of    arch- 
bishop to  Frederick  I., 

453- 

Church  of  Our  Lady,  273. 
Convent  of   St.   Maurice, 

297. 

MAGUELONNE: 
St.  Peter,  339. 

MAHAVELLII'ORE: 

Kathas,  138,  146 (Fig.  Si). 
MAI  Msiu'RY: 

(  lunch    of    the    Benedic- 
tines, 522. 
M  AM>r  : 

Mosque,  175. 
MANIKYALA: 

Tope,  1 31  (Fig.  73). 
M \N i KS: 

Collegiate  church,  513. 

I'urtal  sculptures,  597. 
M  AKliURG- 

St.     Elizabeth,     554-556 

(Figs.  352,  353,  377)- 

—  Monument   of    Land- 
grave Conrad,  617. 

MARCHTHAL: 

Convent,  213. 
MARIK.NHERG: 

Church,  273. 
MARIENMHIRG: 

Castle,  562.  [619. 

Goldrn   portal,  sculptures, 
MAKIKNSTA  i  r: 

Church,  542. 


INDEX   OF   PLACES. 

MARIENTHAL: 

Church,  273. 
MAKIKNWKKDER: 

Castle,  562. 
MARSEILLES: 

Carved  sarcophagi,  109. 

Church  de  la  Major,  mo- 
saics, 431. 

St.  Maximin,  513. 
MAULBRONN: 

Cistercian     convent,    280, 
300,  301,  541,  562  (Fig. 

359)- 

Herrenhaus  (Fig.  357). 
MAURESMUENSTER: 

Convent,  211. 
MAYENCE: 
Bridge,  232. 

Cathedral,  212,  258,  275, 
285,  536  (Fig.  163). 

—  Bronze  doors,  449. 

—  Gold  crucifix,  454. 

—  Monument    of    Arch- 
bishop    Conrad     von 
Weinsberg  (Fig.  388). 

—  Monument    of    Sieg- 
fried von  Epstein,  618. 

Fortifications,  211. 

St.  Lambert,  212. 

St.  Peter,  convent,  298. 

St.  Stephen,  274. 
MEATX: 

Cathedral,  513. 

Convent  of  the  Cross,  210. 
MECCA: 

Caaba,  161. 
MECHLIN: 

Guildhall,  591. 

St.    Rombout,    cathedral, 

589,  590. 
MEDINA:  [161. 

Mosque    of    Mohammed, 
MEHAL: 

Mohammedan     buildings, 

176. 
MEISSEN: 

Albrechtsburg,  563. 

Cathedral,  statues,  613. 

Walls,  271. 
MKI.K: 

Collegiate  church,  portable 

altar,  459  (Fig.  280). 
MELROSE: 

Abbey  church,  533. 
MELUN: 

Diptych,  656. 
MEMLKi'i  \  : 

Convent,  298. 
MENDE: 

Cathedral,  514. 
MENSANO: 

Church,  frieze,  466. 


733 

MERAN: 

Castle,  304. 
MERSBKKU: 

Ecclesiastical      edifices, 

231. 
MERSEBURG: 

Cathedral,  272. 

—  Altar,  454. 

—  Monument     of     Ru- 
dolph    of     Suabia,  452 
(Fig.  276). 

Palace,  271. 

—  Paintings,  402. 
Walls,  271. 

MESSINA: 

Mintage,  468. 
METHLKR: 

Church,  paintings,  405. 
METTEN: 

Convent,  213. 
METTLACH: 

Ecclesiastical  edifices,  21 1. 
M  KTZ  : 

Cathedral,  550. 

Mansion,  307. 
MICHELSTAIM  : 

Church,  230. 
MILAN: 

Ambrosiana,  codex,  93. 

—  Diptych   of   Arcobin- 
dus,  no. 

Brera,  Madonna  by  Gi- 
otto, 673. 

Carved  sarcophagi,  109. 

Cathedral,  578. 
-  Ivory  carvings,  in. 

Church  of  the  Apostles, 
209. 

Civic  buildings,  580. 

Porta  Rinnan. i,  sculptures, 
466. 

S.    Ambrogio,    313    (Fig. 

183). 

• —  Altar,  240. 
—  Antependium,  114. 

—  Mosaic,  244. 

—  Tabernacle,  316. 
St.  Aquilinus,  40,  85. 
S.  Celso,  313. 

S.  Eustorgio,  monument  of 
Peter  Martyr,  640. 

S.  Lorenzo,  42,  50,  51  (Fig. 
29). 

—  Baptistery,  314. 
MILSTADT: 

Church    of    St.    Saviour, 

300. 
MINDKN: 

Cathedral,  276,  550. 
Ecclesiastical  edifices,  231. 

MlNINGARNEFORD.         See 

Mnenster. 


734 


INDEX   OF   PLACES. 


MINZEBERG: 
Castle,  303. 

MlRAFLORES: 

Cartuja,    funeral      monu- 
ments,    587,    606,    644 

(&&  397). 
MITTELZELL: 

Basilica,  280. 
MODENA: 

Cathedral,  318  (Fig.  190). 

—  Sculptures,  465. 
MOISSAC: 

Convent,  355. 

—  Cloister,  capitals,  474. 
MOLLEGES: 

Chapel  of  St.  Thomas,  336 

(Fig.  201). 
MONRA: 

Ecclesiastical  edifices,  213. 
MONREALE: 

Cathedral,  332,  333  (Figs. 
198,  199). 

—  Cloister,  332. 

-  Doors,  471.  [426. 

—  Mosaic     decorations, 
MONS: 

St.  Wandru,  589,  590. 
MONSEE: 

Convent,  213. 

MONTAMIATA: 

Latin  bible,  96. 
MONTE  CASINO: 
Convent,   bronze    doors, 
115,470. 

—  School  of  art,  323. 
MONTE  GARGANO: 

S.  Angelo,  bronze    doors, 

"5- 
MONTMAJOUR: 

Abbey  church,  337. 
—  Chapel,  344. 

—  Cloister,  346. 
MONTREAL: 

Church,  500. 

MONT-SAINT-MlCHEL: 

Abbey   church,   364   (Fig. 

221). 
MONZA: 
Cathedral,  diptych,  no. 

—  Manuscripts,  235. 

—  Relief,  234. 
Civic  buildings,  580. 
Palace  of  Queen  Theode- 

linde,  wall   decorations, 

241,  245. 
MORITZBERG.     See    Hildes- 

hiim. 
Moscow: 

Kremlin,    Church    of    the 

Annunciation,  70. 

—  Church    of    the    As- 
sumption, 69. 


Moscow — continued. 

Kremlin,  Church  of  the  As- 
sumption, bronze  doors, 
115,  117.  [40). 

Vassili  Blaggenoi,  70  (Fig. 
MOSCUFO:  [468. 

S.  Maria  del  Lago,  pulpit, 
MOUSTIER: 

St.  John,  338  (Fig.  203). 

MUENSTER,  NEAR  COLMAR: 

Convent,  211. 
MUENSTER     (MININGARNE- 

FORD). 
Cathedral,  539  (Fig.  338). 

—  Paintings,  404. 

—  Sculptures,  443,  612. 
Dwelling-houses,  564. 
Ecclesiastical  edifices,  231. 
Museum,  antependium   of 

St.  Walpurgis  at  Soest, 

406  (Fig.  250). 
St.  Maurice,  crucifix,  459. 
Town-hall,  563. 
MUNICH: 
Church  of  Our  Lady,  558. 

—  Monument   of    Louis 
the    Bavarian,  627  (Fig. 

39°). 

Hospital  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  563. 

Library,  bindings,  462. 
—  Codices,     114,     247, 
249,  414-417,  419,  422, 
430,  462,  656,  695  (Fig. 

257). 

National  Museum,  Bava- 
rian panel  paintings, 
694. 

—  Brooch  (Fig.  127). 

—  Ceiling     from    Augs- 
burg, 691. 

—  Madonna    from    Blu- 
tenburg,  625  (Fig.  389). 

—  Paintings    from    Reb- 
dorf,  677. 

—  Portable  altar  of  Hen- 
ry II. ,459- 

Pinakothek,  Death  of  the 
Virgin,  687. 

—  Early  Cologne  paint- 
ings, 687. 

—  Heisterbach  altar,685. 

—  Kaisheim  altar,  692. 

—  Life    of    the    Virgin, 
686. 

—  Panels   of    shrine    by 
Giotto,  673. 

—  Seven    Joys     of     the 
Virgin  by  Memling,  708. 

—  St.  Veronica,  685. 

—  Triptych     by     Dierik 
Bouts,  707. 


M  i '  N  I  c  1 1  — continued. 

Pinakothek,    triptych      by 
Zeitblom,  691. 

—  Wings       of       Corpus 
Christi    Altar    of    Lou- 
vain,  707. 

Reiche  Capelle,  gold  cru- 
cifix, 459. 
MURANO: 

Cathedral,  322. 

—  Mosaics,  427. 
Ivory  carvings,  112. 

MURBACH: 

Church,  296. 
Convent,  213. 

NAKHSH-I-RUSTAM  : 

Reliefs,  125  (Fig.  71). 
NANCY  : 

Museum,  tapestries,  699. 
NANKIN: 

Porcelain  tower,  153. 
NAPLES: 

Carved  sarcophagi,  109. 

Catacombs,  13. 

Cathedral,  579. 

—  Baptistery,  43,  85. 
Duomo  Vecchio,  335. 
Incoronata,       paintings, 

668. 

Mosaic  portrait  of  Theod- 
oric,  241. 

Paintings,  242. 

S.  Chiara,   funeral  monu- 
ments, 641. 

S.  Domenico,  579. 
NARANCO: 

S.   Maria,    371-373  (Figs. 

227,  228). 
NARBONNE: 

Cathedral,  500,  502,  513. 

—  Glass  paintings,  651. 
St.  Paul,  500. 

NASSIK: 

Chaitya,  136. 

Nahapana     Grotto,     143 

(Fig.  79fl). 
Viharas,  140. 
Yadnya-Sri  Grotto,  142 

(Fig.  79*). 
NAUMBURG: 

Cathedral,  537  (Fig.  336). 

—  Statues,  613. 
NAVE: 

S.  Pedro,  371. 
NEPI: 

S.  Elia,  paintings,  423. 
NEUENHEERSE: 

Church,  276. 

Convent,  297. 
NEUSS: 

St.  Quirinus,  536. 


NEUWEILER: 
Convent,  213. 
Sts.  Peter  and  Paul,  537. 

—  Glass  paintings,  409. 
NEVERS: 

St.  Etienne,  350. 
NEWPORT: 

Old  Stone  Mill,  395  (Fig. 

244). 
NIC*A: 

Palace,  194. 

NlEDERALTAICH  : 

Convent,  213. 
NIEDERBURG.      See  Ru 
heim . 

NlEDERMUENSTER : 

Convent,  213. 

NlEDERNBURG: 

Convent,  213. 

NlEXBl'RG: 

Convent,  298. 
NOCERA: 

S.  Maria  Rotonda,  42. 
NOERDLINGEN: 

St.  George  (Fig.  355). 

—  High-altar,  693. 
NORDHAUSEN: 

Nunnery,  297. 
Walls,  271. 
NORWICH  : 

Cathedral,  sculptures,  479. 

NOSSENDORF: 

Tomb     of     Gerard     von 

Lynden  (Fig.  387). 
NOVARA: 

Baptistery,  42,  314. 

Cathedral,  317. 
NOVGOROD: 

Bronze  doors,  117. 

St.  Sophia,  67. 

—  Bronze  doors,  453. 
NOYON: 

Cathedral,    485,    487-490, 
494,  499  (Figs.  297,  300). 

—  Glass  paintings,  650. 
NUREMBERG: 

Castle,  chapel,  306. 
Church     of     Our     Lady, 

sculptures,     615      (Fig- 

385). 

—  Triptych,  687. 

—  Wood  carvings,  626. 
Foundery,  629-632. 
Germanic    Museum,   ante- 

pendium   from  Queren, 

455- 

—  Aquiminalia,  461. 

—  Clay  statues,  619. 

—  Copper  reliquary,  458. 

—  Madonna,  685. 

—  Paintings  by  Holbein 
the  Elder,  693. 


INDEX  OF   PLACES. 

NUREMBERG — continued. 
Germanic    Museum,    Per- 
ingsdoerffer  Altar,  689. 

—  Wood  carvings,  626. 
Nassau  House,  564. 
Play-house,  564. 
Schoener  Brunnen,  615. 
St.   yEgidius,    wood   carv- 
ings, 626. 

St.  James,  wood  carvings, 
626. 

St.  John,  wood  carvings, 
626. 

St.  Laurence,  Annuncia- 
tion to  the  Virgin,  626. 

—  Imhof  Altar,  687. 

—  Picture  above  tomb  of 
Margarethe  Imhof,  688. 

—  Portal  sculptures,  615. 

—  Wood  carvings,  626. 
St.  Sebaldus,  538. 

—  Bridal  Door,  616. 

—  Parsonage,  564. 

—  Schreyer    monument, 
628. 

—  Shrine    of    St.  Sebal- 
dus, 631. 

Town-hall,  563. 
NYMWEGEN: 
Chapel,  221. 
Palace,  221. 

OBERWINTERTHUR  : 

Church,  paintings,  678. 
OBERZELL: 

Church,  280. 

St.  George,  wall  paintings, 
400-402  (Figs.  246,  247). 
OEHNINGEN: 

Convent,  298. 
OEREN : 

Ecclesiastical  edifices,  211. 
OHLE: 

Paintings,  405. 
OHRDRUF: 

Ecclesiastical  edifices,  213. 
OLONA: 

Basilica,  mosaics,  241. 

Palace  of  King  Luitprand, 

207. 
OPHERDICKE: 

Church,  paintings,  405. 
OPPENHEIM  : 

St.  Catherine  (Fig.  350). 
ORCIVAL  : 

Church,  349. 
ORLEANS: 

Seminary,     subterranean 

chamber,  212. 
ORLEANSVILLE: 

Basilica  of  St.  Reparatus, 
24,  32,  224. 


ORTF.NBURG: 

Castle,  303. 
ORVIETO: 

Cathedral,  574,  576  (Fig. 
368). 

—  Altar-piece,  674. 

—  Sculptures,  635,  638, 
639. 

Civic  buildings,  580. 

OSNABRUECK: 

Cathedral,  539  (Fig.  337). 

—  Baptismal  font,  453. 
Ecclesiastical  edifices,  231. 
Shrine,  458. 

OSTERHOFEN: 

Convent,  213. 
OTRANTO : 

S.  Caterina,  579. 
OTTERBERG: 

Cistercian  convent,  536. 
OTTMARSHEIM  : 

Church,     222    (Figs.    115, 

1 1 6). 
OUDENAERDE: 

Town-hall,  591. 
OVIEDO  : 

Camara  Santa,  369. 
OXFORD:  [655. 

Bodleian    Library,    codex, 

Chapel,  533. 

Chapter-house,  533. 

PADERBORN: 

Cathedral,  276,  277,  540 
(Fig.  157). 

—  Portable     altar,    457, 

459- 

—  Sculptures,  443,  612. 
Ecclesiastical  edifices,  231. 
St.  Bartholomew,  261. 

St.  Bustorf,  candelabrum, 

460. 
PADUA: 

S.  Agostino,  570. 
S.  Antonio,  569,  571. 

—  Capella     S.     Felice, 
paintings,  668  (Fig.  407). 

S.  Maria  dell 'Arena,  mon- 
ument of  Enrico  Scro- 
vegno,  638. 

—  Wall   paintings,   663- 
665  (Fig.  405). 

PALERMO : 

Capella  Palatina,  193,  331, 
332. 

—  Mosaic      decorations, 
426  (Fig.  262). 

Cathedral,  331,  332. 
Favara,  192,  331. 
Kuba,  192,  333  (Fig.  102). 
Martorana.     See  S.  Maria 
del?  Ammiraglio. 


736 


INDEX   OF    PLACES. 


PALERMO — continued. 
Menani,  palace,  331. 
S.  Giovanni  degli  Eremiti, 

331  (Fig.  197). 
S.  Maria  dell"  Ammiraglio, 

331- 

—  Mosaics,    426    (fig. 
262). 

PALITANA: 

Holy  mountain  of  Satrun- 

jaya,  145. 
PANEAS: 

Statue  of  Christ,  103. 
PARIS: 

Bibliotheque    Mazarine, 

codex,  655. 

Chapel  of  Louis  IX.,  517. 
Church  of  the  Celestines, 

514.  [498. 

Church  of  the  Franciscans, 
Cluny,   museum,  antepen- 

dium  of  Basle,  442,  454 

(Fig.  277). 

—  Crown  of   Reccesvin- 
thus,  237  (Fig.  126). 

—  Ivory  carving,  112. 

—  Pyxis,  112. 
Collection     Feuillet     de 

Conches,      miniatures, 

656  (Fig.  403). 
Hotel  de  St.  Paul,  517. 
Library,    codices,   94,   96, 

97,  246,  247,  249,   413, 

652,  654  (Figs.  132,  400). 

—  Uiptychs,     no,     112 
(Fig.  64). 

—  Miniatures,  709. 

—  Sketch-book  of  Villard 
de  Honnecourt,  498. 

Louvre,  517  (Fig.  322). 

—  Arms  of  Childeric,  237 
(Fig.  125). 

—  Codex  (Fig.  56). 

—  Gold  relief,  113  (Fig. 

65). 

—  Madonna  by  Jan  van 
Eyck,  703. 

National  archives,  codices, 
653(^^-401,  402). 

Notre  Dame, 485-487, 489, 
492,  503,  508,  510,  512 
{Figs.  298,  301). 

—  Choir  screen,  600. 

—  Sculptures,  597,  598. 
Palace  of  the  Cite,  517. 
Sainte  Chapelle,  497,  498, 

508  (Figs.  305,  312). 

—  Paintings,  649. 

—  Sculptures,  598. 

St.  Denis,  Abbey  church, 
485,  487,  489,  497,  504, 
507, 508  (/>>j.  316,  317). 


PA  R I S — continued. 

St.  Denis,  Abbey  church, 
fa£ade  and  portal  sculpt- 
ures, 596. 

—  —  Funeral     monu- 
ments, 601-603. 

—  —  Glass     paintings, 
409,  433,  650  (Fig.  399). 

—  —  Sculptures     from 
Corbeil,  477   (Figs.  292, 

293)- 

—  Convent,  210. 

Ste.  Genevieve,  209,  367. 
St.  Germain-des-Pres,  209, 
367,  486. 

—  Chapel  of  the  Virgin, 
498. 

St.  Martin-des- Champs, 

484. 
PARMA: 

Baptistery,  314. 
' —  Portal  sculptures,  467. 
Cathedral,  317  (Fig.  189). 

—  Pulpit,  467. 
PASSAU: 

Castle,  216.  \kitl. 

PATTADKUL.      See    Purtid- 
PAULINZELLE: 

Convent  church,  274  (Figs. 

136,  142). 
PAVIA: 

Cathedral,    Area    of    St. 

Augustine,  640. 
Certosa,  578. 
Mosaic  portrait  of  Theod- 

oric,  241. 
Palace  of   King  Bertari, 

207. 

Regisole,  233,  234. 
S.  Maria  del  Carmine,  577. 
S.  Micchele,  313,  317  (Fig. 

1 88). 
PAYERNE: 

Church,  354. 
PERIGUEUX: 

St.   Front,  356,  357  (Fig. 

215). 
PERSCHEN  : 

Church,  paintings,  405. 
PERSENBERG.     See  Grein. 
PERUGIA: 

Civic  buildings,  580. 

Fountain,  635,  641. 

S.  Domenico,  funeral  mon- 
ument of  Pope  Benedict, 
638. 
PETERBOROUGH: 

Cathedral,  386  (Fig.  239). 
PETERLINGEN.    Seeftytnu. 
PETERSBERG: 

Church,  273. 

Mortuary  chapel,  213. 


PETERSHAUSEN: 

Church,  high-altar,  454. 

—  Mural  paintings,  400. 
PFAFFENMUENSTER  : 

Convent,  213. 
PFALZEL: 

Ecclesiastical  edifices,  211. 
PIACENZA : 

Cathedral,  319. 

Civic  edifices,  580. 

Palazzo  Publico,  580. 

PlERREFONDS: 

Castle,  517. 
PISA: 

Baptistery,  326,  327,  576. 

—  Pulpit,  633  (Fig.  393). 
Campanile,  327-329,  576. 
Campo  Santo,  570,  579. 

—  Allegorical    figure    of 
the  city  of  Pisa,  637.. 

—  Frescos,  667. 

—  Frieze,  466. 
Cathedral,    325,    326,    576 

(Figs.  194,  195,  196). 

—  Bronze  doors,  471  (Fig. 
289). 

—  Mosaic,  428. 

—  Pulpit,  637. 
Civic  edifices,  580. 
Seminary,  altar-piece,  674. 
S.  Casciano,  reliefs,  466. 

S.  Micchele,  fa£ade  sculpt- 
ures, 638. 

S.  Paolo  a  Ripa,  324. 
S.  Pietro  a  Grado,  324. 
PISTOJA: 

Cathedral,  altar,  642. 

—  Crucifix  (Fig.  263). 
Civic  edifices,  580. 

S.  Andrea,  324. 

—  Pulpit,  636  (Fig.  394). 

—  Reliefs,  465  (Fig.  285). 
S.     Bartolommeo,    pulpit, 

467. 

S.  Giovanni  fuor*  Civitas, 
pulpit,  638. 

—  Reliefs,  465. 
S.  Maria,  324. 

S.  Paolo,  324. 

S.  Pietro,  324. 
PLETTENBERG: 

Church,  paintings,  405. 
PLIXBURG: 

Castle,  303. 
POELDE: 

Monastery,  297. 

POETNITZ:  [262. 

Church,  Romanic  capitals, 
POITIERS: 

Baptistery,  214  (Fig.  112). 

—  Mural  paintings,  401, 
432. 


POITIERS — continued. 
Castle,  517. 

Cathedral,  501  (Fig.  306). 
Notre  -  Dame    la    Grande, 
358. 

—  Fa9ade      sculptures, 
475- 

Ste.  Radegonde,  358. 

PONT-AUBERTI 

Church,  500. 

PONT-AUDEMER : 

St.   Germain,    362   (Figs. 

21-jf,  219). 
PONTE  ALLO  SPINO: 

Pieve,  choir  screen,  467 

(Fig.  286). 
POTSDAM : 

Friedenskirche,     mosaic 
from  S.  Cipriano  in  Mu- 
rano,  427. 
PRAGUE : 

Cathedral,  551. 

—  Candelabrum,  460. 
—  Mosaic,  679. 

Chapter-house,  codex,  422. 

Church    of    the    Virgin, 
paintings,  680. 

Museum,   miniatures,  695 
(Fig.  419). 

Palace,    equestrian    statue 
of  St.  George,  621. 

St.  George,  279. 

Town-hall,  563. 
PRATO: 

Cathedral,  Madonna  della 

Cintola,  637  (Fig.  395). 
PRENZLAU : 

Church  of  the  Virgin,  558 

(Fig.  356). 
PREUILLY: 

Convent  church,  484. 
PRIORIO: 

S.  Juan,  374. 
PROVINS: 

Castle,  517. 
PRUEM  : 

Convent  church,  212. 
PUISALICON: 

Campanile,  345. 
PURUDKUL: 

Temples,  146. 

QUEDLINBURG: 

College    of    St.  Servatius, 

297. 
College   of   St.  Wipertus, 

297. 

Dorsels,  410  (Fig.  254). 
Palace  church,  271. 
St.  Servatius,  271. 
St.  Wipertus,  257. 
Walls,  271. 


INDEX   OF   PLACES. 

QUEREN: 

Church,  antependium,  455. 

RAJAGRIHA: 

Vihara  of  Malanda,  138. 
RAMERSDORF: 

Church  of  the  German 
Knights,  paintings,  677 
(Fig.  410). 

RANI.     See  Ctittack. 
RAPOLLA: 

Cathedral,  335. 
RAPPOLTSTEIN: 

Castle,  303. 
RAT  ASS: 

Chapel,  389. 
RATISBON: 

Alte  Kapelle,  portal  sculpt- 
ures, 441. 
Bridge,  308. 

Cathedral,  301,  551,  552, 
554  (Fig.  351). 

—  Cloister,  baptistery, 
278. 

—  Windows,  681. 
Dwellings,  307,  561. 
Ecclesiastical  edifices,  2 12. 
St.  Emmeramnus,  278. 

—  Carvings,    448    (Fig. 

273)- 

—  Cloister,  561. 

—  Royal     tombs,     617 
(Fig.  386). 

St.  James,  269,  278,  300. 

—  Portal  sculptures,  443. 
St.  Stephen  (old  cathedral), 

278. 

Stone  sculptures,  627. 
Town-hall,  563.  [297. 

Upper  minster,  231,  278, 

—  Paintings,  404. 
RATZEBURG: 

Cathedral,  394,  541. 
RAUSCHENBERG: 

Castle,  302. 
RAVELLO:  [471- 

Cathedral,    bronze    doors, 

—  Pulpit,     sculptures, 
468,  639  (Fig.  288). 

Palazzo  Ruffolo,  579. 

S.  Maria  del  Gradillo,  334 

(Fig.  200). 
RAVENNA: 

Archiepiscopal  palace,  mo- 
saics, 87. 

Baptistery  of  the  Arians 
(S.  Maria  in  Cosmedin), 
43.  44.  85  (Fig.  25). 

—  Mosaics,  241. 
Baptistery  of  the  Orthodox 

(S.  Giovanni  in  Fonte), 
43,  44,  85  (Fig.  24). 

47 


737 

RAVENNA — continued. 

Cathedral,  ivory  cathedra, 

112. 

Chapel  of  Galla  Placidia 
(SS.  Nazaro  e  Celso), 
45,  46,  85  (Figs.  26,  27). 

—  Carved    sarcophagi, 
109. 

Mausoleum  of  Theodoric, 
205-207  (Fig.  no). 

Mosaic  portrait  of  Theod- 
oric, 241. 

Palace  of  Theodoric,  204, 
205  (Figs.  107,  109). 

S.  Apollinare  in  Classe, 
35.  50  (Fig.  19). 

—  Mosaics,  89. 

S.  Apollinare    Nuovo  (S. 

Martino  in  Coelo  Aureo) 

Mosaics,   86,   241   (Fig. 

50). 
S.  Francesco,  campanile, 

34- 
S.  Vitale,  50,  51-55  (Figs. 

30,  31)- 

—  Mosaics,  87,   88,  100 
(Fig.  Si)- 

Statue  of  Theodoric,  233. 
REBDORF: 

Church,  wall   paintings, 

677. 
REDDES: 

St.  Peter,  337  (Fig.  202^). 
REICHENAU: 

Convent,  213,  231,  258. 
REICHENBERG: 

Castle,  562. 
REICHENHALL: 

Parish  church,  279. 

S.  Zeno,  299. 
REICHENSTEIN  : 

Castle,  303. 
REMY: 

St.  Paul,  346. 
REUTLINGEN: 

Font,  627. 
RHEIMS: 

Carved  sarcophagi,  109. 

Cathedral,  496,  498,  503, 
507,  508,  510,  512  (Figs. 
309.  3i8). 

—  Glass  paintings,  650. 

—  Sculptures,  598,  600. 
St.  Remy,  367,  485-487, 

489,  499. 

—  Glass  paintings,  408. 

—  Mosaics,  431. 

Ste.  Nicaise,  497, 498,  512. 
RHODES: 

Gothic  edifices,  593. 
RIBE: 

Church,  394. 


738 


INDEX   OF   PLACES. 


RlKfX-MERINVlLLE: 

Church,  345. 
KINGELHEIM: 

Nunnery,  297. 
RINGSAKER: 

Church,  396. 
ROCHESTER: 

Castle,  388. 

Cathedral.  380,  385. 

—  Portal  sculptures,  479. 
RODEZ: 

Cathedral,  514. 
ROESKILD: 

Cathedral,  394. 

Church  of  the  Holy  Trin- 
ity, 391- 
ROMAINMOTIER: 

Church,  353. 
ROME: 

Basilica  of  Julia,  26. 

Basilica  of  Maxentius,  20. 

Baths  of  Caracalla,  38  (Fig. 
206). 

Catacombs,  3-13   (Figs. 

2-7). 

—  Paintings,  72-79  (Figs. 

42-45). 

House  of  Crescentius,  323. 
Lateran  museum,  carved 

sarcophagi,     107,     108 

(Fig.  61). 

—  Statue  of  Good  Shep- 
herd, iob(Fig.  58). 

—  Statue  of  St.  Hyppo- 
lytus,  106. 

Minerva  Medica,  39  (Fig. 

21). 
Oratories,  14,  15,  44  (Fig. 

9)- 

Pantheon,  38. 
Private   basilicas,  16,  17 

(Fig.  10). 
S.  Agnese,  22,  28,  30  (Fig. 

17). 

—  Mosaics,  go  (Fig.  52). 
S.  Andrea  in  Catabarbara, 

20. 

—  Mural  decorations,  79 
(Fig.  46). 

S.  Balbina,  24. 

S.  Bartolommeo,  lectorium, 

323- 

S.  Cecilia,  mosaics,  90, 423. 
S.  Clemente,   23,   24,   28, 

33,  256  (Figs.  I,  13). 

—  Chapel  of  St.  Cath- 
erine, frescos,  671. 

—  Mosaics,  424. 

-  Wall  decorations,  423. 
S.  Constanza,  28,  40,  42, 
46  (Fig.  22). 

—  Mosaics,  80. 


ROM  E — continued. 
S.  Croce  in  Gerusalemme, 
21,  32. 

—  Tabernacle,  323. 
S.  Generosa,  21,  22,  25. 

S.  Giovanni   in    Laterano, 

21,  22,  32. 

—  Baptistery,  40,  41,  42 
(Fig.  23). 

Mosaics,  So,  90. 

—  Bronze  doors,  471. 

—  Cloister,  324. 

—  Mosaics,  663. 

S.  Lorenzo  fuori  le  mura, 

22,  25,  28,  30. 

—  Choir  stalls,  324. 

—  Mosaics,  90. 

—  Tabernacle,  323. 
S.  Marco,  90. 

S.  Maria  della  Navicella, 

mosaics,  90,  423. 
S.  Maria  Domnica,  33. 
S.  Maria  in  Aracelli,  ambo, 

323- 

S.  Maria  in  Cosmedin,  28. 
S.    Maria    in    Trastevere, 

28,  32. 

-  Mosaics,  424,  663. 

S.  Maria  Maggiore,  21,  22, 
24,  25,  26,  32. 

—  Monuments    of   bish- 
ops, 638. 

—  Mosaics,  82,  83,  663. 
S.  Maria  Nuova,  mosaics, 

424. 
S.  Maria  Sopra  Minerva, 

569.  570. 

—  Monuments    of   bish- 
ops, 638. 

S.  Nereo  ed  Achilleo,  mo- 
saics, 90,  423. 

S.  Paolo  fuori  le  mura, 
22,  24,  28,  32  (Figs.  14, 
18). 

—  Bronze  doors,  470. 

-  Cloister,  324. 

—  Easter    candlestick, 

323- 

—  Mosaics,  82,  83,  104, 
115,425(^.48). 

—  Tabernacle,  638. 
S.  Petronilla,  21,  22. 

S.  Pietro  in  Vaticano,  22, 
24,  25,  32  (Fig.  12). 

—  Imperial   dalmatica, 
100. 

. —  Portico,  mosaic,  663. 
. —  Sarcophagus,  107. 

—  Statue    of    St.   Peter, 
106  (Fig.  59). 

S.  Pietro  in  Vincoli,  25,  33 
(fig.  15). 


ROM  E — continued. 

S.  Prassede,  28,  32  (Fig. 
16). 

—  Mosaics,  go,  423. 
S.  Pudenziana,  21,  34. 

—  Mosaics,  8 1,  84   (Fit*. 

47>  . 
S.   Sabina,  wooden   door, 

471. 

—  Mosaics,  82. 

S.  Silvestro,  wall  decora- 
tions, 425. 

S.  Stefano  Rotondo,  42, 
46. 

—  Mosaics,  90. 

S.  Symphorosa,  21,  25  (Fig. 

.  Xl)' 
S.  Teodoro,  mosaic,  90. 

S.  Venanzio,  mosaic,  90. 
SS.  Cosma  e  Damiano,  24. 

—  Mosaics,  83  (Fig.  49). 
SS.  Quattro  Coronati,  30. 
SS.  Vincenzo  ed  Anastasio 

alle  tre  fontane,  25,  28. 
Septizonium,  26. 
Temple  of  Romulus  on  the 

Via  Appia,  38,  39  (Fig. 

20f). 

Tomb  of  Helena,  39,  40. 
Vatican,  Chapel  of  Nicho- 
las V.,  paintings,  672. 

—  Codices,    94,   96,    97, 
247,  249,  430. 

—  Sarcophagi,  107. 

ROMMERSDORF: 

Church,  275. 
ROMSEY: 
Crucifix,  479. 

ROPPERSHAUSKN : 

Castle,  303. 
ROSENWEILER: 

Church,  paintings,  677. 
ROSHEIM: 

Church,  280,  296. 
ROSSLYN: 

Mortuary  chapel,  533. 
ROSTOCK:  [620. 

Cathedral,  baptismal  font, 
ROTHENBURG  ON  THE  TAU- 
BER: 

Hospital  church,  altar,  624. 

St.  James,  altars,  624,  693. 
ROTT: 

Convent,  213. 
ROUEN:  [513. 

Cathedral,  498,  499,  504, 

—  Funeral    monuments, 
603,  607. 

St.  Julien,  366. 

St.  Ouen,   513  (Figs.  320, 

32i). 
St.  Remain,  494. 


RUEDISHEIM: 

Niederburg,  302  (Fig.  178). 
RUEGGISBERG: 

Church,  354. 
RUFFEC: 

Church,  358. 

—  Sculptures,  475. 
RUNKELSTKIN  : 

Castle,  paintings,  679. 

SAECKINGEN: 

Ecclesiastical  edifices,  211. 
SAIDA: 

Coffins,  109  (Fig.  63). 
SAINT  ALBANS: 

Cathedral,  380,  385,  523. 
SAINT  ANTONIN: 

Town-hall,  sculptures,  474. 
SAINT  EMILION:  . 

Church,  316. 
SAINT  GALL  : 

Codices,  247,  248,  419,  420 
(Figs.  131,  133,  258). 

Convent,  211,  212,  226- 
229  (Fig.  nc,). 

—  Ivory  relief,  240  (Fig. 
129). 

—  Mural     decorations, 
400. 

SAINT-GERMAIN-EX-LAYE: 

Palace  chapel,  498. 
SAINT  GERMER: 

Abbey  church,  485,  486. 

Chapel  of  the  Virgin,  498. 
SAINT-GERMIGNY-LES-PRES  : 

Church,  222. 
SAINT  GILLES: 

Church,  339,  343. 

—  Fajade     sculptures, 
473- 

SAINT  JEAN  D'ACRE: 

Gothic  edifices,  593. 
SAINT  NECTAIRE: 

Church,  349. 
SAINT  OMER: 

Cathedral,  497. 

St.  Berlin,  514. 
SAINT  RIQUIER.     See   Cen- 

tula. 
SAINT  SAVIN:  [432. 

Church,  wall    paintings, 
SAINT  SAVIMEN: 

Church,  367. 
SAINT  SULPICE: 

Church,  354. 
SAINTES  MARIES: 

Church,  337,  338. 
SALAMANCA : 

Cathedral,  377,  582. 
SALERNO: 

Cathedral,   bronze    doors, 
115,470. 


INDEX   OF   PLACES. 

SALERNO — continued. 
Cathedral,  mosaics,  424. 

—  Panel  of  ivory,  in. 
S.  Domenico,  cloister,  579. 

SALISBURY: 

Cathedral,  523,   524,   526, 
527  (Figs.  325,  327,  328,). 

—  Glass  paintings,  657. 

—  Monuments,        608 
,  (Figs.  382,  383). 

Chapter-house,  532. 
SALONA: 

Temple  of  Jupiter,  38. 
SALONICA: 

St.  George,  40,  47,  91. 
SALSETTE : 

Chaitya  temples,  138. 

Durbar  grotto,  140. 
SALZBURG  (JUVAVIA): 

Castle,  216. 

Crosier,  461. 

Nonnberg,  212,  262,  298 
(Fig.  175). 

—  Paintings,  402. 

St.  Peter,  212,  279,  299. 
SALZBURG  IN  THE  SAALGAU: 

Castle,  303. 
SALZVVEDEL  : 

St.  Laurence,  540. 
SAN  GIMIGNANO: 

Town-hall,  Madonna  by 

Lippo  Memmi,  670. 
SANCHI:  [83). 

Tope,  130,  133  (Figs.  72, 
SANCT  FLORIAN: 

Convent,  213. 
SANCT  HIPPOLYT: 

Convent,  213. 
SANCT  SIGISMUND: 

Convent,  211. 
SANCT  THOMAS-. 

Nunnery,  536. 
SANCT  ULRICH: 

Castle,  303. 
SANCT  WOLFGANG: 

Church,  altar,  625. 

—  Crosier,  461. 
SANKISSA: 

Triumphal  columns,  134. 
SANLIEU: 

Church,  353. 
SANT'  ANGELO.     See  Gar- 

gano. 
SANTIANNES  DE  PRAVIA: 

Church,  369. 
SARAGOSSA: 

Cathedral,  585. 
SARBISTAN: 

Palace,  122  (Fig.  68). 
SARNATH : 

Topes.  132. 
SATRUMAYA.    See  Palitana. 


739 

SAUMUR: 

Tapestry  weaving,  434. 
SAVENNIERES  : 

Church,  214. 
SAVIGNY  : 

Church,  366. 
SAYN: 

Convent  church,  534. 

—  Funeral    monuments, 
620. 

SCALA: 

Female  bust,  469. 

SCHAFFHAUSEN: 

Minster  of  All  Saints,  280. 
SCHARNITZ: 
Convent,  213. 

SCHEFTLARN : 

Convent,  213. 

SCHELKLINGEN  : 

St.  Afra,   paintings,  678 

(Fig.  411). 
SCHILDESCHE: 

Convent,  298. 
SCHLEHDORF: 

Convent,  213. 
SCHLEISSHEIM: 

Gallery,  Bavarian  panel 
paintings,  694. 

—  Paintings  by  Holbein 
the  elder,  693. 

SCHLESWIG : 

Cathedral,  carved  altar, 
626. 

SCHLETTSTADT : 

St.  Fides,  296,  536. 
SCHLIERSEE: 
Convent,  213. 

SCHUTTERN : 

Convent,  211. 
SCHWABACH: 

Parish  church,  altar-pieces, 

624,  689. 
SCHWARZACH: 

Convent,  213. 

SCHWARZRHEINDORF: 

Church,  285,  291. 

—  Paintings,    403,    404 
(Fig.  248). 

SCHWERIN: 

Memorial  brasses,  621. 
SECUNDRA: 

Mohammedan     buildings, 

176. 
SEEZ: 

Cathedral,  513  (Fig.  319). 
SEGOVIA: 

Church  of  Corpus  Christi, 

373- 

S.  Lorenzo,  374. 
S.  Millan,  374  (Fig.  230). 
SEKKAU: 

Convent  church,  279. 


740 


INDEX   OF   PLACES. 


SEI.IGENSTADT: 

Castle,  303. 

Church,  230,  536. 
SELTZ : 

Convent,  298. 
SENANQUE: 

Cloister,  346. 
SENDENBURG: 

Church,  paintings,  405. 
SENLIS:  [513. 

Cathedral.  485-487,  494, 

—  Portal  sculptures,  597. 
SENS  : 

Cathedral,  485-489,  492, 
508  (Fig.  299). 

—  Glass  paintings,  650. 
SESSA:  [469. 

Cathedral,  choir  screen, 

—  Easter    candlestick, 
469. 

SEVILLE: 

Alcazar,  183,  184  (Figs.  85, 
98). 

Casa  de  Pilatos,  184. 

Cathedral,  585,  586. 

Giralda,  183  (Fig.  97). 

Mosque,  182. 

Palace  of  Al  Motamed, 

paintings,  199. 
SHAH  DEHRI: 

Vihara,  138. 
SHAHPUR: 

Reliefs,  125. 
SIEGEURG-. 

Church,  shrines,  457,  458. 

.  —  Portable  altars,  459. 
SIENA: 

Cathedral,  570,  574,  576. 

—  Altar-piece  by  Duccio, 
660. 

—  Choir     screen,     467 
(Fig.  286). 

—  Pulpit,  635,  638. 
Civic  buildings,  580  (Fig. 

370- 

Dwellings,  581. 
Gallery,   altar-piece    by 

Gaddi,  673. 
Palazzo  Publico,  fresco, 

670. 
S.  Domenico,  Madonna  by 

Guido.  660. 

Town  -  hall,   mural   paint- 
ings, 669,  670  (Fig.  408). 
SIGTUNA: 

Basilica,  396. 
SIGUENZA: 

Cathedral,  582. 
SIKRI.     See  Futtehpore. 
SILVACANNE: 

Abbey   church,    342,    343, 
345- 


SILTES: 

Palace,  statues,  197. 
SINZIG: 

Parish  church,  536. 
SIPONTO: 

Cathedral,  334. 
SITTEN : 

Printed  linen  tapestry,  697. 
SIX-FOURS: 

Church,  337. 
SOEST  : 

St.  Patroclus,  277. 

—  Glass  paintings,  409. 

—  Mural  paintings,  404. 

—  Portal  sculptures,  443. 
St.  Peter,  294. 

St.   Walpurgis,   paintings, 

406  (Fig.  250). 
Wiesenkirche,  557  (Fig. 

354)- 

—  Altars.     See  Berlin. 
SOIGNIES: 

St.  Vincent,  281. 
SOISSONS: 

Cathedral,  496. 

—  Glass  paintings,  650. 
St.  Medrardus,  209. 

SOLENHOFEN : 

Convent,  214. 
SONNENBERG.     See   Wiesba- 

den. 
SOUILLAC: 

Convent    church,   portal 

sculptures,  474. 
SOUTHWELL: 

Collegiate  church,  523. 
SPALATRO : 

Cathedral,  carved  sarcoph- 
agus, 108  (Fig.  62).     . 

—  Wooden  door,  471. 
Palace  of  Diocletian,  27. 
Temple    of    Jupiter,   39 

(Fig.  200). 
SPEYER: 

Cathedral,  286  (Figs.  161, 
162,  164). 

Church  of   St.  Germain, 

211. 
SPOLETO: 

Carved  sarcophagi,  108, 
109. 

Cathedral,  mosaics,  659. 
STAFFELSEE: 

Convent,  213. 
STAVANGER: 

Basilica,  396. 
STEINACH  : 

Basilica,  230. 
STEINBACH: 

Church,  280. 
STEINFURT: 

Castle,  303. 


STENDAL: 

City  gates,  563. 
STEYNING: 

Church,  385  (Fig.  236). 
STRALSUND: 

Memorial  brasses,  621. 
STRASBURG: 

Codex,  420,421  (Fig.  259). 

Minster,  231,  545,  546,553, 
554- 

—  Glass  paintings,  409. 

—  Pulpit,  627. 

—  Sculptures,    614,    615 

(Afc.  384). 
STUHLWEISSENBURG  : 

Cathedral,  casula  of  St. 

Stephen,  428. 
STUTTGART : 

Collection    of   antiquities, 
altars  by  Zeitblom,  691. 
Collegiate    church,    monu- 
ments, 617. 

—  Pulpit,  627. 
Library,  codices,  417-419, 

421. 
SUEIDEH: 

Basilica,  24. 
SURBURG: 

Church,  280. 

Convent,  213. 
SUSDAL: 

Convent  church,  bronze 

doors,  115,  117. 
SYRACUSE: 

Catacombs,  13. 

TABRIS: 

Mosque,  193. 
TAKHT-I-BAHI: 

Vihara,  138. 
TAKHT-I-BOSTAN  : 

Reliefs,  125. 
TAKHT-I-GERO; 

Sassanian  monument,  124 

(F&  70). 
TANGERMUENDE: 

City  gates,  563. 

St.  Stephen,  559. 

Town-hall,  563. 
TARASCON:  [202^). 

St.  Gabriel,  337,  339  (Fig. 
TARRAGONA : 

Cathedral,  377. 
TAUBERBISCHOFSHEIM  : 

Convent,  214. 
TCHERNIGOF: 

St.  Sophia,  67. 
TEGERNSEE: 

Convent,  213,  297. 

—  Glass  paintings,  408. 
TERNI: 

Sarcophagus,  107. 


INDEX   OF   PLACES. 


741 


TERRACINA: 

Palace  of  Theodoric,  204. 
THALBUERGEL:  [151). 

Church,  273    (Figs.   147, 
THAN: 

Church,  363. 
THENNENBACH: 

Cistercian  church,  542. 
THESSALONICA.     See  Salon- 

ica. 
THIONVILLE.      See  Dieden- 

hofen. 
THOLEY: 

Ecclesiastical  edifices,  211. 
THOR.     See  Le  Thor. 
THORN: 

Memorial  brasses,  621. 
THORONET: 

Abbey  church,  343. 

—  Cloister,  346. 
THORSAEGER: 

Round  church,  395. 

TlEFENBRONN: 

Church,   altar-pieces,  624, 

690,  691. 
TIMAHOE: 

Tower,  390. 
TIND: 

Church,  391,  394. 
TINGITANUM.  See  Castellum 

Tingitanum. 
TIROL.     See  Meran. 
TOLEDO  : 

Casa  del  Nuncio,  586. 

Cathedral,  583,  584  (Fig. 

373). 

Christo  de  la  Luz,  181. 

Dwellings,  586. 

S.  Cruz,  586. 

S.  Juan  de  los  Reyes,  586. 

S.  Maria  Blanca,  373. 
TOLOSA: 

S.  Maria,  585. 
TONGRES: 

Cathedral,  588. 
—  Candelabrum,  603. 

—  Reading-desk,  603. 
TORCELLO : 

Cathedral,  322. 
-  Mosaic,  427. 

S.  Fosca,  322. 
TORO: 

Collegiate  church,  375. 
TOSCANELLA: 

S.  Maria  Novella,  329. 

S.  Pietro,  329. 
TOUL: 

Cathedral,  513. 
TOULOUSE: 

St.  Sernin,  349.          [290). 

—  Capitals,    474    (fig- 

—  Frieze,  401. 


TOURNAY: 

Cathedral,  281,  485,  488, 
588,  590  (Fig.  375). 

—  Reliquary,  457. 

—  Sculptures,  604. 

—  Tomb    of    Childeric, 

237- 
TOURNUS: 

St.  Philibert,  350. 

—  Paintings,  649. 
TOURS: 

Cathedral,  497,  513. 

SS.  Gervasius  and   Prota- 
sius,  208. 

St.  Julien,  497. 

St.  Martin,  209. 
TRANI  : 

Cathedral,    portal    sculpt- 
ures, 468. 

—  Doors,  471. 

S.  Maria  Immaculata,  317, 

334- 
TRENT: 

Cathedral,  319. 
TRETTENBURG: 

Ecclesiastical  edifices,  213. 
TREVES: 

Cathedral,  203,  258,  275, 
536  (Figs.  108,  156). 

—  Censers,  461. 

—  Cloister,  545,  561. 

—  Crosier,  461. 
Church  of  Our  Lady,  543, 

544, 5  54  (^r.  343,344)- 

—  Sculptures,  612. 
Library,  bindings,  462. 

—  Codices,    246,    400, 
412,  413  (Fig.  255). 

St.  Matthew,  275. 
TREVIGI: 

S.  Niccolo,  570. 
TRIBUR: 

Palace,  221. 
TRIFELS: 

Castle,  303. 
TROJA: 

Cathedral,  doors,  470. 
TROYES: 

Castle,  517. 

Cathedral,  497,  504.  5*3- 

—  Glass  paintings,  650. 
St.  Urbain,  498,  512. 

TUAM: 

Cathedral,  390. 
TUDELA: 

Cathedral,  377. 
TUEBINGEN: 

Pulpit,  627. 
TUNG-CHOW: 

Pagoda,  i$3(F&  84> 
TUNON: 

S.  Adrian,  370  (Fig.  225). 


TURIN: 

Gallery,  Seven  Sorrows  of 
the  Virgin  by  Memling, 
708. 

Palazzo  delle  Torri,  207. 
TURMANIN: 

Basilica,  49  (Fig.  28). 
TYRE: 

Basilica,  22. 

UDAYAJIRI.     See  Cuttack. 
UHRLEBEN: 

Ecclesiastical  edifices,  213. 
Ujo: 

Parochial  church,  374. 
ULM: 

Cathedral,  554. 

—  Choir-stall,  624. 

—  Font,  627. 

—  Tabernacle    for    the 
host,  627. 

Ehinger    hof,    paintings, 

679. 

Fisher's  fountain,  627. 
Museum,  singing -desk, 

624. 

—  Wood-carving,  625. 
Town-hall,  563. 

UPSALA: 

Cathedral,  592. 
URACH: 

Baptismal  font,  627. 

Wood  carvings,  625. 
URBINO: 

Academy,  Last  Supper  by 

Jost  van  Gent,  705. 
URNES  : 

Church,  391, 394  (Fig.  242). 
UTRECHT  : 

Cathedral,  549,  591. 
UZES: 

Tower  of  St.  Theodorit, 
345- 

VAISON: 

Cloister,  346  (Fig.  209). 

Notre  Dame,  345. 

St.  Quenin,  337,  338,  342, 

343  (Figs.  2066,  208). 
VALDEDIOS: 

S.  Salvador,  373. 
VALENCE: 

Cathedral,  mosaics,  431. 
VALENCIA: 

Cathedral,  585. 

Dwellings,  586. 
VALLADOLID: 

Dwellings,  586. 

Museum,  wood  carvings, 
644. 

S.  Gregorio,  586. 

S.  Pablo,  586  (Fig.  374)- 


742 


INDEX   OF    PLACES. 


VANDRILLE.     See  Fontatul- 

lum. 
VENDOME: 

Ste.  Trinite,  494  (Fig.  303). 

—  Glass  paintings,  433. 
VENICE: 

Dwellings,  581. 

Library  of  S.  Marco,  cod- 
ices, 100,  709  (Fig.  57). 

Palace  of  the  Doges,  580. 

S.  Aponale,  322. 

S.  Catterina,  322. 

S.  Croce  in  Luprio,  322. 

S.  Leonardo,  322. 

S.  Marco,  60, 115, 321  (Fig. 
191). 

—  Bronze  doors,  470. 

—  Mosaics,  427. 

—  Pala  d'Oro,  101,  472. 

-  Roodloft,  641. 

S.  Maria  Gloriosa  ai  Frari, 

569,  570. 
S.  Secondo,  322. 
S.  Zaccaria,  321. 
SS.   Giovanni    e    Paolo, 

569. 
VERCELLI  : 

S.  Andrea,  567,  577  (Figs. 

360,  361). 
VERDEN: 

St.  Andrews,  brass,  621. 
VERDUN: 

Cathedral,  281. 
VERONA: 

Baptistery,  font,  467. 
Fortification  walls,  204. 
Monument   of    Can   della 

Scala,  640. 
S.    Anastasia,     570,    578 

(Figs.  364,  365). 
S.  Fermo,  573,  578. 
S.  Pietro  in  Castello,  317. 
S.  Zeno,  316,  320. 

—  Sculptures,  465. 

—  Bronze  doors,  470. 
VERUELA: 

Abbey  Church,  378. 
VESSERA  : 

Church,  273. 
VEZELAY : 

Abbey  church,  352,  483, 
492,  499  (Figs.  213, 
296). 

-  Portal  sculptures,  476 
(Fig.  269). 

VEZZOLANO: 

S.  Maria,  566. 
VIANDEN: 

Castle,  304. 

—  Chapel,  307. 
VIBORG: 

Church,  394. 


VIENNA: 

Ambras  collection,  liturgi- 
cal garments,  698. 

Gallery,  painting  by  Ro- 
gier,  706. 

—  Painting  by  Gerrit  Tot 
S.  Jans,  707. 

—  Painting  by  Tommaso 
da    Mutina,    674    (Fig. 
409). 

Library,    codices,    94,   95, 

419,  709  (Figs.  53,  54). 
St.  Stephen,  553,  554,  556. 
Treasury,  alba,  428.    [428. 

—  Coronation   mantle, 
VIENNA  (NEUSTADT): 

Collegiate  church,  monu- 
ment of  Frederick  III., 
629. 
VIGNORY: 

Church,  367. 
VILLAMAYOR: 

S.  Maria,  374. 
VITERBO : 

Cathedral,  570. 

Civic  buildings,  580. 
VLADIMIR: 

St.  Demetrius,  67. 
VOLVIC: 

Church,  349. 

WALBECK  : 

Church,  273. 

Convent,  298. 
WALDSASSEN  : 

Cistercian  convent,  541. 
WALTHAM  : 

Abbey    church,    380,    385 

(Fig.  240). 
WARNHEIM: 

Church,  396. 
WARTBURG: 

Palace,  305,  306  (Fig.  181). 
WECHSELBURG: 

Church,  273. 

—  Altar-piece,  446. 

—  Crucifix,  448. 

—  Pulpit,  445  (Fig.  272). 
WEISSENBURG  IN  ALSACE: 

Church,  paintings,  677. 
Convent,  211. 
Fleckenstein,  castle,  302. 
WELLS  : 

Cathedral,  523,  529. 

—  Sculptures,  607. 
Chapter-house,  532. 

WELTENBURG: 

Convent,  213. 
WERBEN: 

St.  John,  559. 
WERDOHL: 

Church,  paintings,  405. 


WESSOBRUNN: 

Convent,  213. 
WESTERGROENINGEN  : 

Church,  272. 
WESTERVICK: 

Church,  395. 
WESTMINSTER: 

Chapel  of  St.  Stephen,  mu- 
ral paintings,  657. 

Chapter-house,  532. 

Palace,  533. 

—  Painted  chamber,  657. 
WETZLAR  : 

Collegiate   church,  sculpt- 
ures, 612. 
WIESBADEN: 

Sonnenberg,    castle    (Fig. 

177). 
WILTON: 

Wilton   house,  diptych    of 

Richard  II.,  657. 
WILZBURG: 

Convent,  214. 
WIMPFEN  AM  BERGE: 

Palace,  305. 
WIMPFEN  IM  THAL: 

St.  Peter,  550. 

—  Sculptures,  615. 
WINCHESTER: 

Cathedral,    385,    523,    531 

(^•33i). 
Chapel,  533. 
Chapter-house,  533. 
WITTENBERG: 

City     church,     font,     630 

(Fig.  391). 
WORCESTER: 
Cathedral,  523. 

—  Tomb  of  King  John, 
607. 

WORMS  : 

Cathedral,  231,  287   (Fig. 

165). 

Palace,  221. 

St.  Dionysius,  231. 
WUNSDORF. 

Church,  272,  294. 

Convent,  297. 
WURZBURG: 

Castle,  216. 

Cathedral,  277. 

—  Font,  620. 

Church  of  the  Virgin,  214. 
Library,  codex,  413. 
St.  Burchard,  bell,  621. 

XANTEN: 

Minster,  carvings,  627. 

YORK: 

Cathedral,  523,   526,   529, 
533- 


INDEX   OF   PLACES.  743 

YORK — continued.  ZALT-BOMMEL:  ZURICH — continued. 

Cathedral,  glass  paintings,  Church,  painting,  698.  Frauen  minster,  299. 

657.  ZAMORA:  Great   minster,   297,   299, 

Chapter-house,  532,  533.  Cathedral,  582.  443  (Fig-  176). 

Ecclesiastical  edifices,  215.  ZARA:  Kiburg,  302. 

YPRES:  Cathedral,  319.  ZWETL: 

Ecclesiastical     edifices,  ZURICH:  Cistercian  convent,  561. 

588.  Codex,  246.  ZWICKAU: 

Guildhall,  591.  Diptych,  no..  Altar-piece,  689. 


THE   END. 


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